Wish You Were Here
by Evil Authoress Inc
Summary: Duo loves Wufei. Wufei loves Duo. Like all great romances, they're too shy to tell each other, and bang, Duo is killed. And that's only the beginning. 2x55x2, FINALLY completed, and ANGST out the wazoo.
1. Chapter One

"Baby, that's what love is all about  
  
Two hearts that find a way, somehow  
  
To keep the fire burning  
  
It's something we could never live without  
  
If it takes forever  
  
We can work it out  
  
Beyond a shadow of a doubt  
  
Baby, that's what love is all about..."  
  
-- Michael Bolton, "That's What Love is All About"  
  
Duo twirled the pencil around on his chin. He was nervous, rightfully so. He'd never been really great with words, at least ones that...well...had so much weight to them. Mostly, it had been, "Hey, Fei. How's life?" or "Jeeze, Fei, when are you going to get that stick out of your butt and LIGHTEN UP!" or "Dammit, Fei, stop being so STUBBORN!!". He sighed, beginning to write again.  
  
Wufei,  
  
I wish this wasn't so hard, I wish I wasn't so nervous. But God, Fei, I'm scared. I'm scared that if I tell you how I feel, you'll hate me. I suppose it's too late for that, since you're already reading this note. Fei, I--  
  
"Duo! I'm locking up for the night!" Lady Une's voice made him jump. "Go home, would you? You've been working double shifts, and you need some rest. Even Wufei's been complaining."  
  
Duo sighed. "Yes, ma'am."  
  
The building was silent again, leaving Duo alone with his thoughts.  
  
Fei, I love you. I know, I sound like a lunatic. I can hear you now, laughing about what an idiot I am. But Wufei, you have no idea how much you mean to me. Heero and Trowa and Quatre, they're all great. But Fei...Every time you leave on a mission, I worry. I'm so afraid you'll leave, and won't come back. I have to tell you this now, so if that day comes, when one of us leaves and doesn't come back...We'll both have this out in the open.   
  
Half an hour passed, and Duo was finally satisfied with the fifth draft of his letter. As the clock struck 10, he stuffed the paper in a little envelope, scrawled Wufei's name on it, and rushed out the door. He had no idea how much it would have meant if he'd stayed a few minutes more.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Duo was more than halfway home, when he realized he had left the note on his desk.  
  
"Oh my God..." he groaned through clenched teeth, "Oh. My. God...how stupid can I get?!" He momentarily debated on whether it was worth it to go allllll the way back to HQ, unlock the doors, turn off the alarm, trudge BACK up the steps, get the note, trudge back down the steps, lock everything, turn the alarm back on...  
  
"Screw it," he muttered, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his Preventers jacket. "It's not like I won't see him tomorrow...just...screw it."  
  
Duo sighed, and continued to shuffle down the walk. Yes, he would see Wufei tomorrow...and the day after that and the day after that...but tomorrow...would he really have the courage to knock on Wufei's office door, pop in, hand him the letter, and watch him read it while valiantly praying Wufei wouldn't turn ZERO on him?  
  
Probably not.  
  
And if he did give Wufei the letter, he'd see ZERO Wufei every day, for the rest of his life...  
  
"Gagh!" Duo violently shook his head and snorted with disgust, "I've gone mad!" he proclaimed to the wind, "Stark raving maaaaaddddd!"  
  
And with that, he walked straight into the lamppost.   
  
"See, it's official," he muttered. "I'm talking to myself, AND I walk into a lamppost. There's gotta be another symptom of insanity that's about to rear its ugly little face."  
  
Using the offending lamppost as a support, he removed himself from the pavement. As he turned the corner, he could swear he hear someone sneaking up behind him. Someone very large, carrying a very nice deadly weapon.  
  
Duo smacked his forehead. "Oh, see, there's the other sign of insanity. Paranoia. As soon as I see another personality, I'm calling in sick."  
  
As he paused at the corner where the main street of downtown met the alley, he looked around carefully and listened. VW Beetles and Ferraris whizzed by, women dressed in sparkling tops and leather pants led themselves into dance clubs, and police officers on patrol stood nearby, looking particularly cranky. Yes, all was well.  
  
"It's just my subconscious going on Red Alert," said Duo, waving at the officer. "There's no way anyone would DARE follow Shinigami home, anyway."  
  
No sooner had the words left his mouth then his braid was yanked roughly from behind, and the harsh kick of a combat boot went slamming into his spine. Completely unprepared, Duo went tumbling forward, tripping over his own feet and landing in the gutter.  
  
"That's what you think, you little punk," growled the attacker. Half hidden by the shadows of the night, his features became blurred. He was large, heavily built with thick muscles and a neck the size of a ham. If that wasn't reason enough to panic, in his hands was...well, a very long, unusually shaped gun. Specifically, the gun issued only to Preventers officers. Duo was now very, VERY scared.   
  
"You have no idea what you've done to humanity. They need war." The man's voice was cold, deep, "You think you've created paradise, but all you've done is made more conflict. Have you even watched the news lately? You and that Asian freak's faces have been plastered all over it for WEEKS."  
  
Duo scrambled to his feet, reaching for his gun. He was terrified when he realized that it wasn't in its holster. His eyes widened, and he instinctively began to walk backwards.   
  
"Okay..." he said slowly, raising his hands up a tad, "Okay. Let's talk this out..."  
  
"'Talk this out'?!" the man repeated, with a hint of amusement coloring his voice, "'Talk this out'. Talk what out?!"  
  
For lack of anything to really say, Duo remained silent.  
  
"Why didn't you 'talk' anything out, instead of blowing it to pieces with that damn Gundam of yours, eh?" the man demanded, "You have such pretty speeches about pacifism, but you contradict yourself! Don't you see?" he growled, "Don't you see?? Words can't solve a thing! Not when you can back up your ideas with the forces of a mobile suit! Trying to lead humanity into peace is crazy! They can't talk sense into themselves! They NEED to be violent!"   
  
Preventers Officer Shot by Rampaging Philosopher...Duo shook the grim image out of his mind. He had places to be, people to meet, and things to do tomorrow! He could not afford to get himself killed tonight! Where in the hell had that policeman gone??  
  
"The only way to save humanity is to get rid of the problems," his attacker said matter-of-factly, raising his gun, "One of which just happens to be you."  
  
Duo had trained for years to become a Gundam pilot. He instincts were dead accurate, his reflexes top-notch, and everything had been honed until he had become almost the perfect soldier.  
  
And now...every one of his reflexes had just failed him.  
  
Funny, Duo mused as he began to crumple down to the pavement. When did he shoot?  
  
The policeman, who had been in dispose breaking up a fight in a nightclub, did a double take when he heard the sound of gunfire and saw the Preventers jacket go crumpling to the ground. Before you could say Walker, Texas Ranger, the officer had his radio on to alert his teammates around the corner, and he was running so hard his heartbeat was thudding clearly in his ears.   
  
As three other squad cars pulled up to the alley, the policeman used his best move and swung out a leg, tripping the thug with the gun. Things went incredibly fast, and the man had been handcuffed to a squad car before the officer had time to take a deep breath. In the heat of the moment and the adrenaline in his veins, he almost forgot about the Preventer that he'd seen fall to the ground. He knelt down at the man's side.   
  
'Hell!!' thought the officer. 'That's not a man, that's a kid! What's someone this young doing with the Preventers?'  
  
Bells went off in his head. 'Oh God...This is the kid who's been working his ass off with that cult in Russia...No, he can't die, not on my watch.'  
  
"Mr. Maxwell! Mr. Maxwell! Say something!" pleaded the officer urgently. "Please, sir! Hang on, there's an ambulance on the way."  
  
Duo was beginning to get dizzy. All of the lights from the squad cars and fire trucks were starting to blur together. The police officer at his side was mouthing something, looking terrified.  
  
'He probably hates himself, because he wasn't here in time,' thought Duo. He felt his heart slow down, and the blue and red and yellow lights were replaced by a brilliant light one.  
  
Duo wanted to hang on, just long enough for the ambulance to pick him up, but it was no use. He was so tired, and the hole in his chest was throbbing and oozing at an incredible rate.  
  
"Wufei...I'm sorry...I love you..." he whispered softly, almost inaudibly. As his body went limp, the officer let out a sob. Another gunned down in the line of duty. It was sick.  
  
He pulled out his radio. "Chief...Yes, it's Marx. The ambulance has arrived, but it won't help....Ma'am, call in the Forensic Office. And Preventer Chang. There's something between them. Don't ask me how I know."  
  
He placed his hand on the heart of the fallen Preventer. "I just do."   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Another day, another headache.   
  
Wufei sighed wearily and plunked his keys onto the apartment coffee table. Six reports due. Three terrorist groups that needed taken out. Two hours of Sally cajoling him to take a lunch break. Four computer crashes. Eight empty boxes of donuts. One crabby-ass boss lady. The perfect recipe for a bad day.  
  
What he needed was a cup of really strong coffee and about a dozen aspirin to put this day behind him.  
  
Wufei trudged into his kitchen and flipped the light switch. The bulb burst. He groaned and trudged back out. He wasn't going to bother. No, no, no. Why drink coffee when he could just bang his head into the wall over and over? At least that didn't involve electricity.  
  
Wufei shuffled over to the bathroom and pulled open the medicine cabinet's door...which promptly smacked him in the face. Okay, maybe drugs weren't going to be too helpful today either. He reached back and pulled the elastic from his hair and (slowly) shook his head. At least that helped his headache a bit.  
  
"Today can't get worse," he mumbled to himself as he massaged his temples, "It's not humanly possible."  
  
In lieu of a cold shower, which was the first thing that came to mind, he shuffled into the bathroom slowly. He reached out a hand, and turned on the faucet in the sink and let the icy water spray out. He cupped his hands and mercilessly splashed it all over his face, getting water in his hair and on his uniform. Three times, four times, five times. Finally satisfied with his torture, he shut off the faucet and blearily rubbed his eyes with tired fingers. He wasn't any more awake, but he was pretty damn cold now.  
  
Wufei shuffled back out of the bathroom and stood quietly in the hallway. The only sounds were the ticking of the huge mantle clock and his steady breathing. He enjoyed the quiet, so unlike the mood of the rest of his day.  
  
Finally, the silence was pierced by the chiming of the huge clock, which alerted him to the fact that it was 10 o'clock on the nose.  
  
He sighed a deflated sigh. He was too awake to go to sleep, but too tired to actually do anything that require thought or movement. An idea dawned on him, and he almost smacked himself for not thinking of it sooner. If he couldn't think, and he couldn't sleep, the least he could do was meditate.  
  
"Time to get out of the restricting...ungh...jacket," he said, slowly unbuttoning it and tossing it carelessly on the couch. Against his better judgment, because a cold chill was running down his spine, he removed his shirt and tossed it aside as well. If he was going to do this, he might as well do it right.  
  
Wufei settled down amongst his favorite cushions that he had stashed into a corner of his apartment and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, then another, and willed himself to relax.  
  
The tension from his whole crappy day instantly vaporized and Wufei's muscles turned into Grade A goo. He sagged into the pillows and sighed. Bliss! Bliss! He had found bliss in a pile of two dollar pillows!!  
  
Okay. So it wasn't quite meditating. But being sprawled out on the floor was relaxing. What would Duo say if he could see Wufei now, completely lax and dead to the world?  
  
Duo, and his beautiful amethyst eyes...Duo and his incredibly powerful mango and starfruit shampoo...Duo and his carefree attitude...Duo the womanizer...  
  
Wufei groaned as he felt all the tension he had just gotten rid of slam back into him at full force. He just had to think about Duo, didn't he? He just HAD to. Everyone knew that nothing was more stressful than musing over unrequited love and what had he gone off and done?? Mused over unrequited love!   
  
"Gagh..." Wufei snorted in disgust and painfully pulled himself back up to his feet. Okay, so "meditating" hadn't helped. Time for the big guns. (so to speak)  
  
He needed his katana.  
  
Nothing made life's little problems go away like swinging around a sharp, pointy, and deadly object. He didn't even want to practice. He just wanted to have something lethal in his hands to tackle stress.  
  
He shuffled toward the chest in the corner, dragging his feet and stubbing a toe on a misplaced desk chair. He let out a very nasty string of words about where the chair could spend the rest of its eternity, and what anatomical things it could do to itself, if it had the parts to do so.  
  
Assured that all offending furniture was scared enough to leave him be, he nodded to himself and unlocked the beautifully carved chest with the flick of a finger. It was an antique, shipped from China and dated back hundreds of years. Much like the relic he produced when he put his hands inside.  
  
Wufei ran a finger down the long, cold blade and turned it around to give it a good look. Yes, the shimmering blade and carved hilt looked the same as they had the last time he'd taken it out. He remembered just how it had been acquired, and he smiled despite himself. Duo had gotten it for him, stealing it from Treize's private office as a birthday present... Duo. Dammit, why couldn't he stop thinking about Duo?!  
  
"Unrequited love SUCKS!" he proclaimed, expertly swinging the katana over his head. It felt good to let that out, screaming at the top of his lungs.  
  
"Why does it have to be Duo?!" he shouted again, grasping the sword and taking a slice out of the corner of his couch. "Why does this have to HURT?!"  
  
He swung again, slicing the chair from earlier into two neat halves. This felt very good, and he wondered why he didn't take stress out on his furniture more often.  
  
"Why do the gods fuckin' HATE me?!" he cried, swinging again and shattering a potted plant. Somewhere in his mind, he knew he was out of control, but it didn't matter.  
  
His hair swung violently over his head as he screamed again, lashing out violently.  
  
"Why is it Duo?! Why can't I tell him?! WHY?!"  
  
This time he took out the small coffee table, chopping it into not two pieces, but four.  
  
A lamp fell to the floor, breaking at the base but not shattering. His car keys went flying, skidding into the dark kitchen. And a picture of Duo, in a tiny gold frame, went crashing to the floor. The glass shattered, glistening in the half-hidden moonlight from behind the curtains.   
  
He sucked in air heavily, trying to regain control. He let go of his sword with shaking hands, and brushed hair out of his face. Well, at least he wasn't tense anymore...  
  
The katana hit the floor with a loud -CLANG!- and just like that, Wufei's sanity snapped right back into place.  
  
"I did want to get rid of that coffee table," he muttered as he turned to the broom closet for his ever-handy, triple strength Dust Buster Pro. His eyes landed on the ruined picture frame peeking out from under his curtains.  
  
Wufei felt the blood drain from his face, "Oh no," he breathed and quickly kneeled down, "Nononono..."  
  
Duo smiled serenely at him from underneath the shattered glass.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Wufei repeated over and over as he carefully picked the glass shards from the frame, "Oh, gods, I'm so sorry..."  
  
The picture was nothing special---hell, Duo probably didn't even know he had it. It was one of Sally's famed "prank shots" of Duo sleeping on the job, and smiling in his sleep. Wufei had begged Sally for the picture because he knew, oh he knew, it was the only part of Duo he could ever have.  
  
He pulled the snapshot from what was left of the frame and gently brushed his fingers over Duo's face, "I'm sorry," he whispered again, "I'm so sorry..."  
  
Glass crinkled underneath his boots as a sharp reminder of what his berserk rampage had cost him.  
  
He tenderly placed the picture on the arm of what was left of his chair and stood. Time to get the Dust Buster and clean up.  
  
The vid-phone rang.  
  
He had half a mind to slice the vid-phone into many pieces; twenty, at least. But something in the deep bottom of his stomach told him that the call was important, his mess could wait. He snatched his shirt from the mangled couch, slipped it over his head, and crunched his way into the kitchen.  
  
The vid-phone rang for a few more seconds before he brought his hand down, hard, on the vid-phone. In the dark room, still minus a working lightbulb, the screen glared at him. He had to blink a few times before his eyes focused.  
  
Hello?" he said, blinking. He couldn't tell who was on the other end; they kept pacing back and forth and he couldn't see their head. The setting looked suspiciously like Une's office But...No, whoever was calling him was crying. Une didn't cry, in public, and never that hard.  
  
"Hellooooo?" he tried again.  
  
The figure stopped pacing and stared him down.  
  
"Oh...my..." said Wufei numbly.  
  
It was Une, he was sure, and yet...he wasn't so sure. The office was Une's, and the glasses were Une's, but oh, everything else was so out of place. Her face was red and flushed and glistening with salty streaks. Her eyes were red, too, and as she put her hand on the table, he noticed her knuckles were bloody.  
  
"Une, what....?" he stammered, eyes widening like teacups. "Why are you calling? And what the fuck happened to you?"  
  
And he knew.  
  
"Oh...gods..." his voice caught, and he had to swallow a few times to regain his voice, "No..."  
  
From the other side of the vid-screen, Une nodded solemnly nodded, "It's Duo..."  
  
Wufei's fingers tightened around the edges of the vid-phone console, "How...?" he managed to croak out.  
  
"A mugger," Une sniffled and scrubbed furiously scrubbed at her eyes underneath her glasses, "A fucking mugger..."  
  
"A mugger?!" Wufei whispered incredulously. A ~mugger~?? A weak, dishonorable MUGGER was responsible for taking away...  
  
...taking away...  
  
It finally hit him full force.  
  
Wufei's knees gave out and he clutched at the vid-phone's console with a death-grip.   
  
Duo...was...  
  
Gone.  
  
He was alone.   
  
And Duo would never know about...  
  
"Where?" he whispered. "Where did it happen?" Duo was gone...He was alone...Duo was gone...His knuckles turned white as he gripped the phone harder.  
  
"Corner of Delancy Alley and Lucas Street, by the Technicolor Smoke dance club," she sniffed again, taking off her glasses and wiping them off with a silk handkerchief. "Duo was on his way home...I shooed him out, I wouldn't let him work any longer. You two both looked so tired..."  
  
Wufei listened partially as Une gave him the facts dabbing her eyes and blowing her nose here and there. The mugger was angry, angry and him and Duo and Preventers and peace and everything...  
  
Duo was dead. The thought made him physically sick. His mind rushed through the day hour by hour; what had he said? How had he talked? Did he yell at Duo today? If only he could have the day back again...  
  
"--fei. Wufei, are you listening?" said Une. He blinked, snapping out of the film that was today's memory.  
  
"I'm sorry, Une, say that again?" he said, swallowing.  
  
"They haven't...cleaned the scene yet. Police are getting eyewitness accounts, forensics are taking pictures. I know this sounds sick, and you obviously don't have to, but do you want to go down and...see him?" she said.  
  
Wufei trembled. Just waltz on downtown and see Duo being fussed over by a bunch of do-gooders and lackeys?   
  
Dammit, not Duo! he corrected himself, Duo was dead! It wouldn't be Duo! Duo didn't lay on pavement, and profusely bleed! Duo smiled! Duo laughed! Duo called him all sorts of stupid nicknames like "Fei-babe" and "Wu-kitty" and "'Fei-'Fei"! Duo...Duo...Duo...  
  
Wufei released the phone and slid to the floor, tears streaking down his flushed cheeks. He pulled his knees up to his chest and slowly began to rock, "I couldn't tell him," he whispered, "Fuck me, but I couldn't tell him..."  
  
"Wufei??" said Une's considerably less-than-calm voice from above him, "Wufei??"  
  
"I couldn't tell him..." he said again. He felt his keys against his hand and he quickly snatched them up, "I'm going..." he stood, and didn't even bother to hide the tears when he turned back to the screen, "I'm going down there. I have to...see..."  
  
Une nodded miserably and cut the link.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Wufei took a few cautious steps away from his car and toward the scene. Police officers and office lackeys from the crime scene lab buzzed around him, but he didn't bother to greet them. He just flashed his badge and they let him pass. With every step, the knot in his stomach got tighter and tighter, and he was afraid he was going to be sick...  
  
He stopped suddenly when he came to the border of yellow tape. He made a sort of half squeak, half sob when he saw Duo's body under the sickly pale glow of the old street lamp. His body was splayed on the cold concrete, arms and legs spread apart. His chest was soaked with blood, and it pooled under him like red rainwater.   
  
"Duo..." he said shakily. "Oh, Duo..."  
  
He bit hard on his lip, so hard that he tasted a tiny trickle of blood. No, he couldn't cry in public, not now...It was okay if he cried at home, but if all of these people saw him...  
  
All Wufei could do was stare as the crime scene lackeys took pictures and scribbled on their clipboards in their routine fashion. It was just another graveyard shift for them. He wanted to scream at them, ask them if they knew just whose dead body they were looking at. But he was silent, gripping the tape until his knuckles were white.  
  
Duo was dead.   
  
"Wufei?"  
  
Wufei started as a hand brushed against his shoulder. Lady Une quickly withdrew, as though she had been burnt by the contact.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Wufei demanded sharply. Inwardly, he winced at his tone. He must have been high strung to be so snappy. Lady Une had been Duo's friend as well as his employer. She was allowed to do whatever she wanted!   
  
Une didn't flinch, "I thought you could use the company," she said quietly and turned to where Duo lay, "Such a waste," she murmured.  
  
"'Waste'?!" Wufei repeated incredulously, "Duo is lying there, and all you can say is it's a 'waste'?!"  
  
Several of the crime scene lackeys glanced up at him from their notepads to fix him with a curious stare. He didn't care.  
  
"And I didn't tell him goodbye earlier," he said sadly. "I stormed out of the office without so much as a 'see you tomorrow'. Gods, what a dumbass I am..."  
  
Une shook her head, long hair swishing back and forth. "How could you know? How could you know you wouldn't be able to say 'good morning' the next day?"  
  
Wufei let out a heavy sigh. Une looked at her knuckles, wrapped in white bandages.  
  
"I didn't believe it, when I got the call," she said. "And then I got angry. I turned to my wall and I punched it again and again. It wasn't true; Duo Maxwell wouldn't dare die on me..."  
  
She swallowed a lump in her throat. "But he did. He died on me."  
  
She chuckled, and then winced. What an awful time to laugh. "And you know what he'd say right now? He'd yell at us for crying over him like this. He'd tell us not to waste our time. He was the God of Death, was he not? He'd pop back to life and show us it was just a joke, just fake blood on his shirt. Ketchup, even..."  
  
He slipped under the yellow tape and past the lackeys who averted their eyes and looked down, fascinated by their shoes all of a sudden. He bent over and felt Duo's neck for a pulse with a shaky hand. Nothing. He hadn't expected to find one, but there was a little hope that Une was right and it was just a joke...  
  
"Why did you have to die tonight?" he whispered. "Why did you die before I could tell you?"  
  
He let his fingers trail over Duo's cheek, his jaw, his chin. He was so cold. Wufei shivered. It just didn't seem right! Duo had always been so bubbly, so perky...he should've been warm! Warm and...alive.  
  
Wufei glanced down at the hole in Duo's chest and grimaced. He hadn't even been given a painless death. Blown away, like some common bystander. Wufei growled low in his throat. Oh, how he would love to meet the coward who had done this!   
  
"Wufei?"  
  
Wufei blinked away the tears (when had those formed?), and looked back up. His eyes locked with Une's. She studied him for a moment, and then, her hands suddenly flew to her mouth.  
  
"Oh my God," she whispered and kneeled down next to him, "Oh my God..."  
  
"What?" Wufei asked, genuinely confused. He realized that he was still stroking Duo's face, and quickly pulled his hand away, "What?"  
  
"You were in love with him," she said quietly, in light of her epiphany, "Weren't you?"  
  
Wufei opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off as Une wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, "Oh, Wufei," she murmured into his shoulder, "Oh, Wufei..."  
  
He stiffened in Une's grasp. He was aware of every pair of eyes on them, drilling holes in his back. He couldn't be weak, not in a moment like this...  
  
Wufei let out a sob and hung his head. "Yes..."  
  
He began to shudder with every sob. "I loved him. I loved him and I was too afraid to tell him..."  
  
"Wufei, I'm sorry," Une said, barely above a whisper. "I'm so sorry..."  
  
A lackey by the name of Sanders poked his teammate, Johnson, on the shoulder. Both had their eyes glued to the two Preventers who were, for lack of a better word, cuddling near the body.  
  
"I think we should leave," whispered Sanders. "We're done here, and Une will probably eat our balls for breakfast if she knows we're eavesdropping. The coroner will come back for the body soon, anyway..."  
  
Johnson nodded, blinking. "Yeah. It's none of our buisness, anyway."  
  
Wufei continued to sob softly as Une held him, still kneeling next to Duo's cold body.  
  
"It's not fair," he moaned. "Duo was so...alive! It doesn't seem possible that he could be...he could be..."  
  
"Ssshhh, Wufei," Une said, as she started to rub small circles into his back, "Ssshhh...it'll be okay..."  
  
Wufei laughed bitterly, "How? The worse thing that could've happened if I had told him..." he burrowed his face into Une's shoulder, and clenched her uniform jacket with trembling fists, "Now? I don't even get rejection! What the fuck was I so afraid of??" Wufei punched at the shoulder he was sobbing into and Une bit her lip to keep from crying out, "What the fuck was I so afraid of..."   
  
Wufei sagged into her embrace, defeated and exhausted.   
  
"Wufei..." Une said quietly after a moment, "Wufei, I'm taking you back to my apartment, okay?" she tilted his tear-streaked face to look at her, "Okay?" she repeated. Like the lackeys, Une knew the coroner would be coming, and she knew that the last thing Wufei really needed right now was to see Duo treated as little more than a large slab of meat.  
  
Wufei wordlessly nodded.  
  
"Okay," Une painfully rose to her feet, Wufei still clinging to her like a life-line. Who knew? Maybe she was. She pulled her cell-phone from her jacket pocket, and pressed the speed-dial.  
  
"Mrrf...'lo?"  
  
"My place," she said curtly, "Now," she flipped the phone shut and looked back down to the boy attached to her, "Let's go, Wufei. Sally will be waiting for us."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Angels, by default, usually have calm tempers. They are very cool and collected. They are good under pressure. However, Michael was not a default sort of angel.  
  
"This is an outrage! Absolutely absurd! This has to be violating some sort of code we have! Or a Commandment! Or something! Positively ridiculous! He can't do this!"  
  
Smoke turned her soft gray eyes upward. "Father, can't you ~please~ shut his yap? He's been yelling like this for hours, and my ears can only take so much..."  
  
Now now, he has every right to be angry. His was always the voice of reason. I'm not so happy  
  
myself...  
  
Smoke sighed. "Yes, but Father, you don't ~yell~ like he does..."  
  
Michael brushed one long strand of white hair out of his eyes. "C'mon, Smoke, you aren't helping!"  
  
She rubbed her temples. "What am I supposed to do? You're yelling pretty well all by yourself. You obviously don't need my help."  
  
Michael stared her down. Boy, when those bright blue eyes got hold of you, you were stuck. They stared at each other for what seemed like endless moments.  
  
"You're angry," he said simply, breaking the gaze.  
  
Smoke nodded. "Well, of course I'm angry. He's decided to try it again."  
  
Michael grumbled something inaudibly.  
  
Now, Michael, you know I agree, but try using another type of language...  
  
Smoke giggled, and Michael ~looked~ at her again. She put both hands over her mouth and snorted. Somewhere above them, they could hear faint chuckling.  
  
There was a moment of silence. Suddenly, Michael's went wide, and he gripped his chest as if his  
  
immortality depended on it.  
  
"Michael, what is it?" said Smoke urgently.   
  
"He's coming..." was all Michael could say before the sky literally exploded around them both.  
  
There was a blinding flash of light...  
  
And somewhere, a door slammed.   
  
The angels were used to such shows. Standard procedure and all. But the braided, black, and bumfoozled figure that had been unceremoniously plopped before them was not. Wide amethyst eyes blinked in confusion, as the poor boy tried to get his bearings.  
  
"What in the FUCK just HAPPENED?!"  
  
"Language, Mr. Maxwell," Smoke chided absently, "Our Father doesn't always appreciate such words."  
  
Duo gaped at her for a moment, before he returned to gaping at his surroundings. Where was he? Where was the mugger?? Had the ambulance been on time after all? But if that were the case, then what kind of freakish hospital was he in?? And what had happened to the--  
  
Duo's tore open his jacket and he looked down. No massive hole. No oozing blood. It was almost like nothing had happened...  
  
"Am I...?" he swallowed dryly, not able to finish the thought.   
  
"Yes," Michael said bluntly, "You are."  
  
"Dead?" Duo squeaked.  
  
"That's usually how you get here."  
  
"Oh...God..."  
  
"Yes, He's here too," Michael inclined his head upwards, but Duo didn't see him.  
  
Duo was too busy staring at his now-shaking-hands. Dead. DEAD. Cut down. Snuffed out. Wiped out of existence. Gone. Kaput. Finito. Deceased. Forever.  
  
Duo moaned. Une was going to have a conniption over the mound of paperwork he had left behind.  
  
Paperwork...paper...the letter...  
  
"'Fei..." he murmured. It looked like he wouldn't have to worry about Wufei going ZERO on him for that letter after all.  
  
"Needs your help."  
  
The white-haired angel kneeled before Duo, and took him by the shoulders. Duo started, "What?"  
  
"Wufei," Michael repeated, "He's going to need your help."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Michael sighed, "It's a long story, Mr. Maxwell, but let me start out by saying... you're not supposed to be here."  
  
Duo scrunched up his face. "Excuse me?"  
  
"He said, 'You're not supposed to be here, Mr. Maxwell,'" said Smoke. "I do hope we won't have to keep repeating ourselves..."  
  
Now now, Smoke. Give him a break. He's a little shocked, mm? He was trying to sound admonishing, but it just didn't work. The smile in His voice was obvious.  
  
Duo jumped about a foot. "Who...was ~that~??"  
  
Michael stared at him. "Why, God, of course. What, you were expecting Groucho Marx?"  
  
"I shot an elephant in my pajamas this morning..." muttered Smoke, looking down at her feet and smiling.   
  
"How it got into my pajamas I'll never know," finished Michael. They both began to chuckle.  
  
"Look, I'm glad this is so amusing, but I have to remind you...I'm DEAD!" exploded Duo, flailing his arms around. "And you're telling me I ~shouldn't~ be??"  
  
That's about the gist of it, yes.  
  
Smoke sighed. "It's a long, complicated story. You want the whole thing, or the sound bites version?"  
  
Duo folded his arms. "It's not like I'm going anywhere," he said.   
  
Michael bit his lip to keep from smiling. "He has a point, you know."  
  
"See, Mr. Maxwell---"  
  
"Just call me Duo," he said.  
  
"Fine." Smoke began to pace back and forth. "See, Duo, God and the Devil have this little feud going on."  
  
So now it's a little feud, is it?  
  
"Okay, it's not a little feud," she said. "It's a huge feud. Enormous. Gargantuan. Behemoth. Better, Father?"  
  
Much.  
  
"Wonderful. At any rate, the Devil may be an ass, but he's not stupid. Getting the Father all pissed is a rather stupid idea. Of course, being the nutcase that he is, sometimes he gets bored and needs to...vent his frustrations."  
  
"'Vent his frustrations'?!" Duo repeated incredulously, "'VENT his FRUSTRATIONS'?!"  
  
"Yes," Michael said with a nod off his head, "Vent his frustrations. So, being the ass that he is, he goes after you."  
  
Several awkward squawks that were supposed to be words escaped from Duo's throat.  
  
"Is a random mugging enough to entertain him? Well, no, not really," Michael continued, ignoring the spluttering Duo, "He's a great fan of melodrama you know. What's more melodramatic than the shattering of a great love affair right before its conception?"  
  
"Why he can't be content with cable or something akin to that, I'll never know," Smoke grumbled darkly.  
  
Duo tried to assemble his thoughts into some semblance of sanity. The Devil was bored and had decided to kill him?? Was it really that...that...dumb?? Did his life really mean so little in the cosmic balance of things?! And Hell could get cable?!  
  
"Why...?" he managed to say, "Out of everyone on the planet, why in the FUCK did he choose me?!" Duo feverently wished he had something to throw for emphasis. It wasn't fair! He had been snuffed out by a whim! It wasn't fair! It wasn't!  
  
"He chose you..." Smoke took a deep breath before continuing, "He chose you because you're in love."  
  
"See, here's where it gets all messy and junk," said Michael. "The Devil is constantly trying to turn the Earth into a nasty little ball of scum and decay. But God, being the much more powerful and intelligent being that he is, always manages to squash it before it becomes a problem."  
  
"The only way he could avoid confronting God is to have someone do the dirty work for him." Smoke rubbed her forehead. "The whole concept is enough to give even the greatest minds a headache---"  
  
"We should know. I asked Einstein about it just the other day," interrupted Michael.   
  
"Do you ~mind~, Michael??" said Smoke. "The concept is basically this: all of the energy required for mass destruction such as what he wants needs a vessel. Something like a TV antennae, or a lightning rod, or whatever."  
  
That's why Wufei needs your help. He was no longer amused. It was safe to say that He was very peeved, in fact. He wants to use Wufei as the vessel.  
  
"He's a wreck right now, which makes him the perfect target," continued Smoke. "The Devil will use every nasty trick in the book to win Wufei on his side; offer him things like power and eternal life..."  
  
"You." Smoke stared at Duo, pointing one delicate finger at him.  
  
Duo's eyes widened. "Me?? Why me?"  
  
Smoke let out an exasperated sigh. "Men, you're so bloody dense..."  
  
He loves you. Duh.  
  
It was certainly unnerving for Duo to hear God say "duh". Especially since he hadn't believed in a God until five minutes before.   
  
"And if he becomes a vessel..." Michael's eyes looked very sad. "He'll die."  
  
Duo blinked. Once. Twice. He let out the breath he had been holding. He gave the end of his braid a solid yank in a last ditch attempt to wake up. "Soooo...let me get this straight: the Devil wants to take over the world, so he waxes me to make my 'Fei an emotional wreck, and that will make 'Fei a buffer for death and destruction and---wait! Wufei ~loves~ me?!"  
  
Smoke slapped her forehead with her hand, "Didn't He just say that?!"  
  
"My 'Fei. My 'Fei. The honorable, justice-raving, tightwad, Chang Wufei, loves ~me~?"  
  
"Yessssssss," Smoke hissed in exasperation, "Shall I spell it out for you? He LOVES you! You LOVE him! What is so difficult to understand here?!"  
  
Smoke...  
  
"And they all say that ~I'm~ the irrational one..." Michael muttered under his breath.  
  
The outrage at being the Devil's pawn, the shock of waking up dead, all the negative emotions that had been racing through Duo's system vaporized. A slow, rather goofy looking grin started to spread across his face as realization finally began to sink in.   
  
"He loved me," Duo said softly. "He loved me..."  
  
  
  
"Loves you," Michael corrected, "He loves you. And if you love him---"  
  
"Why us?" Duo interrupted in the same quiet monotone, "Out of everyone out there, why us?"  
  
Why not? You were just lucky. He's never really needed a reason for anything before.  
  
"What do I have to do?" Duo asked quietly.  
  
"Stop him from giving himself up to the Devil," said Smoke. "And ~yes~, it really is that simple."  
  
"And how do I do that? I hate repeating myself as much as you do, but I'm dead," Duo pointed out.  
  
We'll make you an angel.  
  
"You...can do that?" said Duo. "I thought angels were just created."  
  
"We are," said Michael.  
  
"He's God, for pity's sake, he can bend the rules however he wants!" sighed Smoke. "I can see this will be a long week..."  
  
I heard that.  
  
"I know," replied Smoke. "You hear ~everything~."  
  
"Becoming an angel...Does it hurt?"  
  
"Of course not!" exclaimed Michael. "You think He would do it if it hurt?"  
  
"How should I know?? I didn't believe there ~was~ a God until I ended up here!" said Duo.  
  
But you believe in Me now?  
  
"How could I not?" Duo sighed. "I may be a little slow, but I'm not stupid. I can see what's happening right in front of me."  
  
"Then why didn't you realize that Wufei loved you?" Smoke asked him, softly.  
  
Duo opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. His mind reeled, and flung him back to every "Baka Maxwell!", every smirk, every other peculiar nuance Wufei had displayed only for him. Yeah, he called Sally a "Baka onna", he smirked every now and then at Une, but...there had always been something more when it came to him. Duo always thought he had been hallucinating.   
  
"Idiot," he chided himself softly. Duo took a deep breath and looked upwards for the deity he couldn't see, "I'll do it," he said, surprised at the confidence in his voice. "I'm a fool, but not enough of a fool not to see a second chance when it's given to me."  
  
For some reason, Smoke winced. Michael allowed his eyes to close. Even His So be it, was tinged with a hint of regret.  
  
Duo refused the urge to ask. He had screwed up too much with Wufei in life. But he could fix it! He could!  
  
"Duo..." Michael said quietly, "It isn't exactly a second chance. Even if you save him...you can't still be with him."  
  
Duo's breath caught in his throat.  
  
"Are you still so willing?"  
  
Even if he saved Wufei...fate was unbearably cruel. He loved Wufei. Yes, he did. But did he love him enough to be without him? Could he put himself through this? Could he put his 'Fei through this?  
  
"Yes," Duo swallowed, "Anything for my 'Fei."  
  
Well then...Okay.  
  
Before Duo could ask what happened next, he felt a little twinge in his chest. His vision slowly began to blur, and there were two Michaels and two Smokes, and two of something else he couldn't quite place. His breathing slowed down, and he was vaguely aware that he was falling backwards. Neither Smoke or Michael moved, however, to try and stop his fall.  
  
Hands that Duo could not see...that he could feel, rather, caught his shoulders before he hit the floor. They seemed to be cupping him from behind, like he was a fragile baby bird. Michael had been right, it wasn't painful. In fact, it was just about the opposite.  
  
That's when he felt the creaking, the stretching, the pulling. His arms, legs, chest, they were all changing shape and size. He wanted to protest, but it didn't feel so much wrong as it did...different.  
  
You have to make a distinction between what you were and what you are, Duo Maxwell.  
  
Somewhere in his relaxed and befuddled mind, Duo knew it made sense. He could almost feel his hair growing, the braid becoming nearly twice as long as it had been before. His age seemed to be progressing faster and faster...until finally, it stopped. The hands seemed to set him down, and his breathing returned to normal. When his vision became normal, he saw one of Smoke and one of Michael smiling at him, with a mixture of  
  
sadness and happiness.  
  
"You're one of us now, Duo Maxwell," said Michael.  
  
"Yeah...Yeah, I guess I am." Even his voice had changed. "I guess I don't have to be the God of Death anymore."  
  
That's right. Those days are over. There's only one God around here.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sally desperately fumbled for the light switch. In the middle of a wonderful dream about a beautiful rock star and a tank of chocolate fudge, her phone had dragged her kicking and screaming from the bliss. She was not amused, and Une was certainly going to get an  
  
earful.  
  
...If she could just find the damn light switch! Finally, she gave up and stumbled around in her room in the dark.  
  
"Oh, she's going to regret this, alright," Sally muttered bitterly. "Being the weakling that I am, I need sleep. And lots of it. Superbeings like Une do not need sleep. Therefore, they can demand that their employees forgo slumber and do her bidding at the drop of a hat. Sometimes, this job just sucks."  
  
Thankful that she had been tired enough to sleep in a T-shirt and sweat pants, she had no need to change. If this was urgent, then screw the formality of nice clothes. She snatched her keys off the dresser, slipped on a pair of sandals, and stalked out of her apartment. For a moment, the hall was silent. Sally came stalking back up to her apartment and slammed the door, as if there was anything to steal in her tiny living quarters. She turned on her heels and waited for the elevator to arrive on her floor, tapping her foot impatiently. Une had better have a damn good reason for this, or she would be acting like Wufei-on-ZERO for the remainder of the week.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Whew. One chapter down. Much, much, MUCH more to come. And it ain't pretty kids. Well, it is in a sadistic, angsty bishie-type of way but...oh, you know what I mean.  
  
Disclaimer: The Boys don't belong to us, the G-girls don't belong to us...basically, anyone in here you've heard of, they don't belong to us.  
  
Stay tuned! ^_^  
  
~AngelAnne & Mars 


	2. Chapter Two

"I said 'hello, I think I'm broken',  
  
and though I was only jokin',  
  
it took me by surprise when you agreed.  
  
I was tryin' to be clever.  
  
For the life of me I never   
  
would have guessed how far the simple truth would lead."  
  
~ Diamond Rio - "You're Gone  
  
Wufei was numb - that was the conclusion he came to as he sat hunched on Une's cramped couch, staring at his wadded-up hands. Une bustled around her apartment like a wired bee, muttering in stressed blurts about "where is Sally, she only lives seven blocks away" and "need to start the paperwork" and other random mumblings. She was dealing with the situation as only she knew how - turn it into a mission.  
  
But Wufei...Wufei couldn't do anything. He couldn't think, and he couldn't feel a thing. After crying in Une's arms - yes, the words "crying" and "Une" had been in the same sentence without being followed by "ouch" - he had run out of just about everything. Tears, pain, energy, and even tiredness escaped him. He was just empty. He wanted to be heartbroken! He wanted to be furious! But he wasn't anything at all. Just a shell. But that's all he ever was...  
  
A sharp rapping at the door shook him a little, but he didn't go for the door. He just sat there, wondering whether he'd fallen into an alternate universe by mistake.  
  
"Une! Open the damn door and let me in!"  
  
"Looks like someone got up on the wrong side of the cot!" snapped Une, walking briskly out of her bathroom towards the front door, which took about ten steps.  
  
"Don't you dare mock me, Une! I've gotten an hour of sleep tonight, and I am not a happy camper!"  
  
Sure enough, when Une opened her front door, she was confronted with a very cranky and disheveled Sally. She placed her hands on her hips and scowled.  
  
"Now, you're going to tell me exactly why I'm here, and then maybe you'll tell me why it couldn't wait until morning," she said, tapping an impatient foot.  
  
"I'll do better than that," Une snapped back, "I'll show you what's so wrong!" she seized Sally's wrist in an unyielding grip and started to drag the other woman into the other room.  
  
"Ow! Bless it, Une! Just tell---" Sally's protests and curses died in her throat.  
  
Wufei looked up at her through red-rimmed eyes, smiling weakly, "Good evening, onna..."  
  
"Wufei..." in two heartbeats, Sally managed to wrench her wrist free and was across the room, kneeling in front of Wufei, "What happened?" she asked, running her fingers through his fine raven hair. Wufei lowered his eyes back to his hands and said nothing. Sally turned just enough to be able to catch Une in the corner of her eye, "Une-sama...?" Sally's eyes widened at the white gauze wrapped around Une's knuckles, "What's going on here?" She stood, but didn't move away, "Did a mission go wrong? Is somebody-"  
  
Bam!  
  
Sally's eyes widened even more at the sudden epiphany, and she started sinking back to the floor, "Oh my God..." she blinked at the tears starting to sting her eyes, "Oh my God..."  
  
Une nodded miserably, "A mugger, Sally. Of all the dumb ways...a fucking mugger"  
  
Sally felt herself beginning to double over with nausea. A mugger...after all the wars and battles...to be cut down by a mugger...?! No more laughs, no more braids, no more random plushies showing up in the office...no more phone calls in the wee hours to talk...taken away by something as low as...  
  
Sally yelped as her fist collided with the floor, "It's not fair!" she screeched and pounded the burgundy carpeting twice more. "It's not fair! Why him?!" Pound, pound, pound.  
  
"The cat..."  
  
Sally's head snapped back up.   
  
"The...what, Wufei?" Une said, raising one eyebrow about a centimeter.  
  
"The cat," he said again, with a 'duh, I just said that' silently attached to the end. "Someone needs to drive me to Duo's apartment so I can feed his cat."  
  
"Duo had a cat?" Sally scrunched up her face. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. I kept a tally of stray cats he took in during the war; when I stopped counting, the number was about forty..."  
  
"You're not going anywhere," interjected Une, painfully pointing a finger at Wufei. "You're staying here tonight, until we sort things out."  
  
"I'm a big boy, Une. I can take care of myself," he said, but he didn't believe himself.   
  
Deep down, Wufei knew that if he went back to his apartment alone, he'd curl into a ball and he would probably stay that way for a very long time.  
  
"Has anyone thought to call Quatre and Trowa? And Heero?" asked Sally softly. "They'll want to know, and it would be better if--"  
  
Before Sally could finish her sentence, Une's vidphone began to beep.  
  
"If this is a telemarketer, I swear I'll hunt them down," Une snapped unhappily. She moved over to the coffee table and stabbed a few buttons.  
  
{{Une, w-we just saw the news! Please tell me it's not true, Duo couldn't be dead! He just couldn't be!}}  
  
"Quatre," Une sighed, feeling her heart wrench as she watched the little, normally cheerful blonde implore her with wet blue eyes. "We were just about to call you."  
  
{{So, is it true?}} Trowa's face was completely shaded by the dim room, but his thick gray turtleneck was soaked at about shoulder height, and one tiny silver track could be placed down the side of his cheek.  
  
"If you're referring to Duo Maxwell -" Une took quick stock of their appearances, and the TV news blaring behind them, "and I can see you are...yes, I'm afraid so."  
  
Quatre let out something between a moan and a whimper, and Trowa put a comforting hand on his shoulder, even as he bit his lip and began to shake almost imperceptibly.  
  
{{How's Wufei...?}} Trowa managed to ask before the short Arabian buried his face back into Trowa's shoulder.  
  
Une stole a quick glance behind her, "He's...here."  
  
The vid-phone beeped again. Une sighed and punched a few more buttons. The viewscreen split in half: Trowa and Quatre on the left, Heero Yuy on the right.  
  
Une blinked.  
  
Cold cobalt eyes locked with hers. {{It isn't true.}} he said matter-of-factly.  
  
"H-heero?" Une stuttered. Had he just said-oh, it was too much to hope for! Maybe it all had been a mistake. An awful, awful mistake, and there had been some other boy with a long braid who had been shot. Just maybe!  
  
"Yuy?" Une jumped at the sound of Sally's voice over her shoulder, "What do you mean?"  
  
{{I won't accept this}} Heero said in the same tone, {{There has to be a mistake.}}  
  
Une felt the tiny flutter of hope that had arisen in her spiral down and die. So Heero Yuy was human after all, "Heero---" she started quietly.  
  
{{It's not true!!!} he screamed at her shrilly and raised a hand to furiously scrub at his eyes, {{It's not true...it's not...}}  
  
Sally and Une exchanged a look.  
  
"Heero..." Sally began and let her fingers touch the screen, "Oh, Heero..." her own voice caught, and two salty tracks made twin lines down her face.  
  
{{It's. Not. True,}} he repeated, soft and hoarse, and ran a hand through his ruffled hair.  
  
{{And a goddammned mugger, too}} said Trowa, his voice muffled in Quatre's hair and warbling as it sat on the edge of emotional. {{Not an enemy on a mission, but a mugger. That's what makes this so frustrating.}}  
  
"Heero," Finally, Wufei found enough energy within himself to get off the couch and shuffle over to the phone. "I need to ask a favor of you."  
  
"What could you possibly--..." Heero's eyes flared momentarily, but his automatically snappy defense died in his throat when he finally saw Wufei. It was, perhaps, the first time he'd ever seen the Chinese boy look remotely emotional. Emotional was an understatement, perhaps. Emotional wreck, perhaps.  
  
"What can I do?" he said again, notably softer.  
  
"Sometime tonight, go to Duo's apartment and feed his cat," Wufei said. "He didn't...he didn't have the chance to..."  
  
Wufei let out a choked sob as he realized what he had almost said: "He didn't have the chance to do it himself. He never made it into his apartment."  
  
Of course I will," Heero sighed. "Call me if you learn anything new."  
  
With that, his connection to Une's phone was cut.   
  
"We should go, too," Trowa added. For all his efforts, he could not control his emotionless mask any longer: his voice cracked, and he too let out a tiny sob.  
  
"Please, call us," said Quatre quietly, letting go of Trowa's shirt long enough to cut their connection.  
  
In the corner of the room, a shadowy angel began to cry softly. He grabbed at his braid and held it tightly, wishing for all the world that he could comfort them.  
  
"I feel like I'm in a freaking Jimmy Stewart movie," Duo mumbled through his tears, "Except those have happy endings."  
  
Smoke and Michael exchanged a look.  
  
"We're trying our best, Duo---" Smoke began.  
  
"But it won't do me much good in the long run," Duo finished and wiped his eyes, "I'm okay. Really. I just want to save my 'Fei."  
  
The three watched as Sally took Wufei by the shoulders and led him back to the couch. Une shuffled off into the kitchen, probably for coffee. Duo bit back a slight smile as Sally began to fuss with Wufei's uniform jacket, hair, face, and whatever else appeared disheveled.  
  
"She's always mothering him," he said affectionately and shook his head, "She chased him around the office for half an hour once because he had gotten a nasty splinter and refused to..." Duo swallowed, trying to keep the tide of emotion reigned in, "And he refused to have her help...he wound up falling down the stairs and twisting his ankle...she lived with him for a week to nursemaid..." he sighed softly and realized he was still clutching his braid. With an effort, he managed to unclench his fingers, "She loves him so much..."  
  
Smoke smiled faintly, "Sally's a good girl."  
  
Duo nodded, "I call...used to call her, rather...I used to call her in the early morning, just to chat...she never minded..."  
  
"Of course not," Smoke said wryly, "All you ever wanted to talk about was her favorite subject, after all."  
  
Duo felt his face flush slightly, "Welllll..."  
  
There was a loud crash from the kitchen, followed by a string of rather poignant curses. Sally rolled her eyes, kissed Wufei's forehead, and quickly made her way into the kitchen.  
  
"Une always did have issues with Mr. Coffee..." Duo said with a shake of his head. He switched his gaze from the kitchenette to the solitary figure on the couch. Without a word, he glided across the floor, and kneeled before Wufei. Wufei continued to stare blankly at the floor. Duo raised a hand, stopping just short of Wufei's cheek, and cocked his head to the side, "Hey, 'Fei..." he drawled, "SMILE!"  
  
Wufei pulled his knees up to his chest and tucked them under his chin.  
  
"Please, 'Fei? Smile?" Duo bit his lip, but continued gamely, "You didn't smile for me today, 'Fei..."  
  
Smoke and Michael exchanged another look, but said nothing.   
  
"C'mon, 'Fei, you know I love it when you smile..." It was killing Duo to see the normally headstrong, confident boy that he loved feeling so vulnerable. He was trying his hardest not to reach out and pull Wufei into his famed bear hug, the one that could even squeeze all the oxygen out of Heero. But he knew - he wasn't sure how, because Michael and Smoke hadn't told him - he knew that would be against The Rules. But  
  
maybe one touch wouldn't hurt...?  
  
"Duo!" hissed Michael, but before he could dart out and stop the braided angel, Smoke grabbed his arm and restrained ~him~.  
  
"The Rules have been temporarily suspended," she whispered in his ear. "Now stop being a stick in the mud and let the poor boy do what he has to do."  
  
Michael sighed and relented, dropping his arms to his sides. Feeling triumphant, Smoke relinquished his arm.  
  
"I hate this," hissed Michael. "I hate this stupid game that he forces us into. I hate how much it hurts people..."  
  
"I know you do," said Smoke softly, and pulled him into a hug with one arm. "And I know He does, too. But maybe this time...Maybe this time it will end differently."  
  
"I wish I could believe that."   
  
Duo finally let his hand touch Wufei's cheek, and brought up his other hand to cup the sad face that was beautiful even when it was heartbroken.  
  
"If there's one thing I could do again, I would have told you I loved you," he said sadly. "Then it wouldn't feel unrequited to you, and you...you wouldn't have to be so sad..."  
  
"Duo..." Wufei obviously couldn't see or hear Duo, but he seemed to know somehow that he was there, because he put one hand to his cheek to hold a hand he didn't know was there.  
  
"He can still know, Duo," Michael interjected, trying to keep himself from becoming overly emotional. "Someone will find the letter, and they'll give it to him."  
  
Duo brightened just the tiniest bit. "That's right! It can still do him some good to know that I loved him..."  
  
"'Love', Duo, not 'loved'. You 'love' him," pointed out Smoke. "You may be dead, but Death doesn't stop Love."  
  
"That's what sucks, Smoke," he said sadly. "I'm immortal now, but even when...even when he dies, we can't be together...It's over."  
  
It's not over.  
  
The three angels nearly jumped a foot.  
  
"Father? What do you mean, 'it's not over'?" asked Smoke.  
  
Nothing is over until I say it is.  
  
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" muttered Duo under his breath, smiling. Very reluctantly, Duo pulled his hands away from Wufei's face and stood up. Wufei,  
  
still consciously unknowing that Duo had been there, could almost feel a presence hover in front of him, and then leave. Maybe it had been Duo?  
  
"I need to get out of here," said Duo thickly, clenching his fists to keep himself from crying more. "It hurts to see him in so much pain over me."  
  
And just with a thought, the three angels seemed to fade out of sight, leaving only three mortals behind in the tiny apartment.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Across town, a brown-haired boy crouched down in a tiny, dark kitchen, and poured some dry cat kibble into a small plastic bowl. A small kitten, with patches of orange and black and white spattered all over its fur, peered out with nervous eyes (one blue and one orange) from underneath an armchair.  
  
"Come on out, kitty," said the boy softly. "I'm just a friend."  
  
Somehow the little kitten got the message, because it walked slowly out from underneath the chair and over to the boy's feet. It looked up quizzically at him, as if to say, "Who are you, and where's my Duo?"  
  
Heero carefully scratched the cat behind the ears with tanned, calloused fingers. "I'm sorry, kitty, but Duo...Duo isn't coming back."  
  
"Mew," the kitten said sadly, understanding the message in the boy's sad words. As Heero stopped scratching, it turned away and began to slowly eat its food. Heero just stood there silently as the little lonely kitten ate, and wondered if Duo would be  
  
laughing if he could see him being so kind and gentle, so very opposite of everything he portrayed in daily life.  
  
"I miss you, Duo," he said aloud, more loudly than intended.  
  
"Meow," agreed the kitten softly, and then it continued to eat.  
  
Heero shook his head wryly. Yes, this kitten was definitely Duo's: eating despite the crisis.   
  
//"Duo. No."  
  
Wide amethyst eyes looked back at him pleadingly, "But I'm hunggrrryyyyy!!!"  
  
Heero sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. Never mind that they were tracking a suspect. Never mind that Une would have their heads if they didn't catch him. Never mind that this guy had already killed six people and was working on a seventh. Oh no. The only thing that mattered was Duo's stomach.  
  
"Just one, Heero?" Duo pleaded, "Just ONE?"  
  
Heero wanted nothing more than to go and bang his head into something. Anything. A pillar, a brick wall... "Duo...you'd be better off if you didn't eat one at all. They're gross."  
  
"Heero!" Duo said indignantly, "It's a hotdog! It won't kill me!"  
  
"Do you even KNOW what's in those?"  
  
"Do I care?" Duo fished his wallet out of his back pocket and bounded in the direction the vendor and his small push cart had gone, "Don't lose our guy, Hee-chan!" he called merrily over his shoulder...//  
  
Heero smiled faintly at the memory and leaned down to scratch behind the kitten's ears, "So, kitty, what's your name?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Mew," the kitten answered around a mouthful of kibble.  
  
Heero shook his head again. Definitely Duo's cat.  
  
Duo. It was impossible that the beautiful, braided boy with deep violet eyes was dead. It couldn't be possible - he had been the embodiment of life, however desperately he led his friends to believe that he was the God of Death.  
  
"Love is supposed to transcend Death, isn't it?" he asked, looking up at the dark ceiling above his head.   
  
"Mew," agreed the kitten, nudging its food bowl with its head - indicating that it really needed more food.  
  
"But I have to give him up." Heero reached into the bag and gave the little kitten another handful of food. It pounced upon the food bowl and munched away happily.   
  
"I have to give him up, because...he loved Wufei. And now he's dead."  
  
It wasn't very hard for Heero to accept that his gorgeous braided angel hadn't loved him. He couldn't express emotion like Duo needed; oh sure, Heero could kiss alright, and he wasn't really lacking in other areas...  
  
...but he'd forgotten how it was to give up a part of yourself to someone you loved. Although he sometimes doubted he had learned how to do that in the first place.  
  
"Wufei could have loved him so much better," Heero told the kitten. "I didn't deserve him. I couldn't give him what he needed, and I would have hurt him..."  
  
"That's something I learned recently, kitty," he said. "You can't truly love someone unless you can give yourself to them. You have to open yourself up to them, let them love you flaws and all..."  
  
"I'm too flawed," he said softly. "I wasn't trained to feel - I was trained to ignore feelings. Pain, love, the whole nine yards. They would have gotten in my way."  
  
"But without them...I don't have a purpose anymore."  
  
The kitten couldn't understand the tall human's gibberish, but its tone was obviously very sad. It waddled away from its little food bowl and sat down at his feet. The look it gave him said: Your new purpose is to feed me. Get used to it.  
  
Despite his misery, Heero chuckled. Imagine, being put in your place by a cat!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Once again, it was the same old thing. Cause mayhem. Cause panic. Kill somebody. Try to piss HIM off. Try to appease the other guy. Life was nothing but an endless circle that would never end. And, considering she was immortal, it really would never end.  
  
Raven sighed and idly twisted a lock of hair around her index finger. What she would give for some job variety. At least she lucked out with this case and Kiran had to go to earth instead of her. She hated it up there. It was so...noisy.  
  
Of course, considering who the target had been this time...well, she was kind of upset she had missed her opportunity. Maybe she could go for the other one! That cute little Asian...  
  
Raven giggled at the thought. Sometimes, humans were just too pretty for their own good. Maybe she'd be able to keep this one...  
  
...if the fiery torments of Hell didn't cause his mere mortal mind to snap and leave him a blubbering idiot.  
  
Ah well. Such is life for an immortal. Sometimes you could have a cute companion, sometimes you couldn't.  
  
Raven...  
  
Raven snapped out of her reverie almost instantly, "Yes?" she asked politely. Rule number one when working in the Underworld: don't piss off the boss.  
  
Kiran's been arrested by the humans again.  
  
Raven sighed, "He is an idiot like that, isn't he?"  
  
Raven...  
  
"Do I have to go get him out?" she asked, now paying more attention to the hair wrapped around her talon than the conversation. She had things to do today. What yet, she didn't know, but she'd think of something!  
  
There was a lonnng, slow sigh that echoed for a few minutes, It's more complicated than that.  
  
"Oh?" She could file her talons today! That would be amusing!  
  
He's an angel, now.  
  
All thoughts of idle time-wasting flew from Raven's mind, "What??" she shrieked, "That's not allowed! Isn't that against one of their dumb Rules or...or something?! They can't just up and make angels!!"  
  
They can do whatever they want.  
  
"Well, so can we!" she said indignantly.  
  
Yes, yes, I know. But this time, He isn't willing to let this lie. We have to up our schedule, Raven.  
  
Uh-oh. She didn't like where this was heading.  
  
Kiran was dumb enough to impersonate a human. He can stay in their prison. But you, my dear...  
  
She swallowed, hoping he wasn't going to say what she thought he was going to say.  
  
Go above. I want what's left of that pretty boy, and I want him now.  
  
Well...the pretty boy part wasn't bad! Going up to Earth was enough to make her feel sick.  
  
Do whatever it takes, Raven. TURN him to me. I have a world to conquer, and I need a buffer.  
  
Raven bent over in a shaky bow. Earth. Icky, disgusting, loud, loud Earth. But if he wanted the pretty one, she'd bring him the pretty one...  
  
...after she exhausted every chance to make him her consort.   
  
After all, that was Rule Number Two: Every demon for themselves.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sitting in human jail was fun. Or at least Kiran thought so. It wasn't the fact that he'd been arrested that made it so...  
  
...but the fact that the humans actually thought they could contain him long enough to give him a trial, sentence him, and possibly give him the death sentence. He found that very fun indeed.  
  
"I've already been damned to Hell," he muttered to himself. "What more do they want from me?"  
  
"They'll probably want the death penalty," he added. That amused him. "You can't kill what isn't alive!"  
  
A very perturbed cell block guard regarded him with a nasty look, and Kiran returned the favor.  
  
"Stupid psychos," the guard grumbled. "Why'm I stuck babysitting dem all?"  
  
...Out of jail, that's where he'd be. He'd kill the guard, and disappear into thin air before anyone could notice that he had gone! Of course, he knew just how Raven would respond when she saw him next. 'You are such a moron, taking a human form! Why couldn't you just do it the normal way? Why do you make things so fucking difficult?!'  
  
"Because it's fun," he murmured jovially. "Doing it the easy way makes it seem like work. I hate work."  
  
He ran his hands through his short scarlet hair, and let his head rest in them. He had to think. What was his best course of action? Wait for Raven to come and save him? Kill the guard and bust out on his own?  
  
You're going to sit here and take your punishment like the weasel little man-demon you are, until I feel like I need to save your worthless ass.  
  
Kiran did his best not to look visibly panicked, but it wasn't easy. The Boss wasn't happy, which meant he'd either be mauled or fried. Perhaps both.  
  
"Yes sir," he whispered, looking imploringly below him. "I won't go anywhere. It was my fault, and I--"  
  
Shut up! I don't want to hear you grovel.  
  
"Yes sir!" Kiran nearly whimpered. He was digging himself in deeper and deeper...it wasn't fair! The Boss never chewed out Raven! Not that Raven ever did anything noteworthy anyways...  
  
KIRAN...  
  
Kiran hugged his knees up against his chest at the low, menacing bass of a voice resonating in his skull. The guard outside raised a bored eyebrow at the blubbering prisoner, but paid him no more heed.  
  
Raven is on the surface now, searching out the buffer. I suggest you find a cell with a window. Or is that too difficult a task for you, Kiran?  
  
Kiran miserably shook his head, "No sir. I promise. I won't escape until you send for me."  
  
Inwardly, he was seething. Raven, Raven, Raven!!! She got to search out the buffer, after the dirty work was said and done. Gods, how he hated that taloned witch. And if the Boss thought she would just cheerfully and obediently hand over that boy...  
  
Kiran shivered. He'd seen the target. And he had known from her stunned mumblings that Raven had too. And Raven rarely let go of what she wanted...  
  
"I pity thee, Chang Wufei!" Kiran giggled into his knees as he rocked back and forth, "Oh, how I shalt pity thee when all is said and done!"  
  
Neither the guard nor the Boss made any comment.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The Preventers HQ was eerily silent and still, which would have been a surprise on any normal day, because it was 8 AM and nearly everyone was in the office.   
  
Everyone except the one person who had always kept the workplace humming with energy.  
  
Sally stared somewhat blearily over her steaming cup of what could be loosely called "coffee" as workers on various levels of office hierarchy went about their duties slowly and miserably.  
  
"Even the people who didn't know him well miss him," she said, as Une reached past her to fill her mug with the brown...whatever it was exactly.  
  
"He did bring a certain something to this office," mused Une, wincing a little as she hit her bandaged knuckles against the coffee maker. "He made the atmosphere less...well..."  
  
"Serious? Consuming? God-awful?" added Sally, sipping cautiously from her mug.  
  
Une half-smiled. "Yes, something like that." She sipped from her mug as well, and nearly spit it out all over Sally. "Oh, for the love of God! That's disgusting! I refuse to ever make coffee again."  
  
A group of agents made cheering noises, and quickly scattered when Une picked up a stapler and heaved it in their direction. Sally just snickered.  
  
Wufei sat at his desk, staring at the same piece of paperwork he'd been staring at for the last hour. It certainly wasn't going to write itself, but for once, he just didn't feel driven enough to fill it out.   
  
It was the log for the last mission that he and Duo had completed together, already half-finished in Duo's broad script. Someone had to complete it, and the only someone left was Wufei. But every time he looked at it, he wanted to vomit.   
  
It wasn't like the mission had really been anything that horrible and disgusting. Rather it had been a simple fly-over-there-and-reason-with-rioters type of deal. Just go over to what had once been a Russian city, level with some cult leaders, fly back, eat a donut, and go to bed. They hadn't even really had to do much reasoning or talking, for the riot's leader had taken one look at their uniforms and quickly scampered away in the opposite direction.  
  
But they did get to stay in a nice, four-star hotel.  
  
Wufei felt the corner of his lip tug upwards as he remembered Trowa's reaction when they returned from duty. The usually calm and cool ex-pilot had actually raised his voice and thrown his glass candy dish across into a wall, while storming into Une's office, grumbling something about how he was always stuck with the wilderness missions...  
  
Duo had teased Trowa incessantly for a week after words...  
  
Wufei looked up at the startled yelp from one of the office lackeys. She was a new recruit, by the name of McGivers or something similar to it, and she was surrounded by what appeared to be deskless paperwork. Glancing back down at his own desk, Wufei felt his face flush in mortification as he realized he had thrown the mission log at her in his mild flashback.  
  
"Sorry," he muttered and bent to pick up the papers.  
  
Still by the coffee machine, Sally nudged Une with her elbow and inclined her head towards Wufei. Une nodded in silent sympathy.  
  
"That's alright," said McGivers, handing Wufei a form that had somehow managed to lodge itself in her hair. "Kind of a rough night for you, huh?"  
  
"Aa, you could say that." He gathered the last bits of paper, and shuffled them into a somewhat neat pile.  
  
"Yeah. Well, umm...I'll just be getting out of your way now!" And the lackey scampered away, making a mental note to avoid that side of the hallway as much as possible.  
  
Raven giggled, stepping past the two women at the coffee maker without even making them blink. She'd taken extra care to make sure the mortals wouldn't see her; unlike Kiran, she actually planned on doing her job right.  
  
"He's such a mess," she muttered happily, peeking into Wufei's office. "Toying with him will be easy!"  
  
She walked around his desk, so she was facing his gorgeous front side. "What should I do now? Hallucinations? Some physical pain?"  
  
Raven usually didn't bother with magic - people just seemed to flock to her natural beauty with out it - but this was a special case, and she really wanted this one to go right. There was no telling what the Boss would do if this didn't go off as planned...  
  
In the back of her mind, she faintly heard that familiar bass voice booming. She couldn't catch the words, but she was almost certain they'd been directed at Kiran.   
  
"That goof is finally getting what he deserves," she said, slapping her hands on the desk and leaning on it. "But enough about him!" she grinned and gave Wufei a wink, even though she knew he couldn't see it, "Time to more important things!"  
  
"Raven."  
  
Raven blanched. With a none-too-quiet curse, she slowly craned her head around to see-  
  
"Smoke!" she greeted with a cordial nod, "My, my, my, what are you doing here?"  
  
The silver-haired angel raised a delicate eyebrow and nodded in Raven's direction, "I could say the same for you. Did your job status change from causing suffering to causing soothing?"  
  
Raven perched daintily on the corner of Wufei's desk and swung her legs like a school child, "You know my Boss, Smoke. I'm just following orders," she turned to fix Wufei with a lustful stare, "If conquering the world means snuffing out this beauty, well I tend to rethink my priorities."  
  
Smoke crossed her arms in exasperation, "You never change, do you, Raven?"  
  
"Nor do you," Raven pointed out, "You still think you can stop me when I have a scheme. And you never answered my question, Smoke. Why are you here?"  
  
Smoke's lips curled into a broad, lazy grin that somehow sent shivers down Raven's spine, "Your Boss picked the wrong target, Raven."  
  
Raven snickered behind her talons and leaned back on Wufei's desk. She stretched, and ran a claw down the side of his jaw. Wufei shook his head at the invisible caress, "I tend to agree with you. Why can't the buffer look more like a flattened raccoon or something?"  
  
"That's not what I meant."  
  
There was something in Smoke's voice-something low, and definitely dangerous-that prompted Raven to sit back up rather quickly. Smoke was still leaning back against the office wall, arms crossed, but her eyes were blazing, "You destroyed a great love, Raven. You destroyed it before it even began. We can't forgive you."  
  
"If you want to get technical, Kiran did it," Raven pointed out icily.  
  
"You're no innocent yourself," Smoke snapped back, "If you had any common sense at all, you'd know this isn't going to work."  
  
"You can't be innocent in this business," Raven shrugged, ignoring the second half of Smoke's comment. "If I didn't do awful, nasty things to people, I'd have your job."  
  
"Cha. He'd never even let you past the Gate," Smoke's grin got wider, which made Raven more nervous than the look in the angel's eyes. It was almost...cheerful. Of course, her eyes were still shooting daggers, but the rest of her expression said, "Cross me. I dare you."  
  
Raven pretended that she could ignore it, and turned back to Wufei. "You're not going to stop me. The Boss wants him. You and your precious God want him. One of us is going to get what they want. The other one...well..."  
  
She let the rest of the sentence hang in the air, and leaned across the accursed paperwork so that her nose was way too close to his face for Smoke to stomach. The silver-haired angel lunged forward, but all of a sudden her muscles refuse to move and she froze in place. Raven had cast a Frost-bound spell on her! Of all the dirty tricks to pull! She managed to pull her foot forward about six inches, before it dropped to the carpet again like a cinderblock.  
  
"Don't mess with me, Smoke," Raven warned, looking at her from the corner of her eye. "I'm very serious about this job."  
  
"And so am I," Smoke snarled. "You won't win. He can't be tainted by the likes of you!"  
  
"Tsk tsk, Smoke. If you gambled, you would know that you should never bet against a sure thing..." Raven leaned into the final inch of space that separated her from Wufei's face, and kissed him on the lips. She lingered for a moment longer than was necessary, and then pushed away, turning her attention to the other immortal occupant of the office. She wiggled her talons, and the Frost-bound spell dissipated. Before Smoke could cast a spell of her own, the demoness snapped her fingers and disappeared in a smattering of black feathers and bobbypins.  
  
Smoke resisted the urge to curse, and instead make a screeching noise out of frustration. She watched in anxious anticipation for the side-effect of Raven's affection.  
  
Wufei was no longer staring at his papers, but rather some invisible point in his office. He slowly raised his hands, and traced a shaking finger over his lips. They were going numb, Smoke knew. Not exactly the most pleasant of sensations, but oh, it was about to get worse.  
  
Wufei's hand started shaking. The tremors moved up his arm, and engulfed his body. Wufei wrapped his arms around himself in a self-imposed hug, in a vain attempt to get himself back under control. "Sally," he murmured, trying to get himself out of his office chair. He managed to stand, but was trembling so hard that he fell to his knees, "Sally..."  
  
The door to his office was open, and another office lackey had seen Wufei collapse. Sally glanced up from her stale donut to see Lynch pointing frantically at Wufei's office, and immediately red alert klaxons sounded in her head. Dropping the donut, she jogged quickly across the office and was about to make her way into the office, when she was thrown back by a forcefield.  
  
"Don't touch him!" Smoke hissed, even though Sally couldn't possibly hear her, "You'll end up just like him, if you do."  
  
"Wufei!" Sally called helplessly.  
  
Wufei couldn't answer.  
  
Smoke kneeled down next to the shaking Preventer and ran her fingers through his sweat-matted hair. The elastic that held it back in the rigid ponytail had disappeared somewhere between the chair, and the floor, "You'll be okay," she said softly and gave his forehead a soft kiss.  
  
"'FEI!!"  
  
Smoke whipped her head around, and her eyes widened, "What are /you/ doing here?!"  
  
Duo leapt forward, tears falling from his amethyst eyes, "What happened to my 'Fei?!" he demanded shrilly, "What did you do?"  
  
"I didn't do anything!" she stood to block Duo's path, "Don't touch him!"  
  
"Why not?!" he spat at her, "You did!"  
  
"I'm not you!" she took his arm in one hand and his braid in another, "He'll be fine, but we can't stay. Raven's out there."  
  
"No!" Duo violently shook his head, despite the grip Smoke had on his hair, "No, 'Fei!"  
  
"Duo!" she practically snarled, "We're leaving! I have to report this!"  
  
"I don't care---" he was cut off as the two angels vanished in a flurry of white feathers and staples.  
  
"Sally, what in blazes is going on out here?!" Une barked, coming down the hallway from her office where she had retreated minutes before.  
  
Sally gestured frantically at Wufei's office, where she could see his shivering figure on the floor. "He collapsed! I tried to get into his office, but I...I couldn't."  
  
Une stepped carefully over her and toward his door. "What do you mean, 'you couldn't'? His door is wide open!"  
  
She promptly found out what Sally meant when the barrier repelled her too, and she went stumbling backwards and tripping over Sally, ending up on the floor with her.  
  
"What the hell is that?" Une's eyes were as wide as dinner plates behind her glasses.  
  
"I don't know, but we have to help Wufei!" Sally got onto her knees and crawled toward the blocked door.  
  
"Wufei! Say something! Tell me what's happening!" she yelled shrilly, slamming one hand on the barrier as if it would help.  
  
Wufei could see Sally out of the corner of his eye, looking frantic and worried. He would have chuckled, if he could feel his mouth. She needed to worry less...  
  
Gods, why couldn't he stop shivering? He was being such a weak idiot, writhing around on the floor with no self-control. Could he be having a nervous breakdown? Oh, if Duo could only see him now. He'd probably be laughing his ass off--  
  
Wufei's back arched off the floor as all of the muscles in his chest contracted at the same time, sending sharp pain through every part of his body. He was no medical expert, but Wufei was almost certain nervous breakdowns didn't do that. He couldn't help himself; he let out a cry of pain and hugged himself more tightly.  
  
Gods, what was happening to him?? He just wanted to get his paperwork done and live this miserable day through...  
  
"Sanders! O'Brien!" he heard Une bark somewhere far away, "I want in that office yesterday!! Chang! If you can hear me, I'm coming after you!"  
  
"Une--!"  
  
"Po, can it!"  
  
Much to Wufei's surprise, the spasms and nerve-shattering waves of pain were beginning to subside. He cautiously drew in a deep breath, and just as cautiously let it back out. Maybe it was passing? Just maybe? He suddenly found himself quite glad he had passed breakfast, for he had the sneaking suspicion it would be all over the floor. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he could sit back up and get Sally to ~shut up~.  
  
((Ah, ah, ah, my pretty one. It's not that easy now...)) Wufei started at the silky voice resonating in his mind and suddenly found himself trembling. Even without a face, or a body, the disembodied voice wanted something from him. Something he was not willing to give.  
  
At least not voluntarily.  
  
"Who...are you...?" he managed to gasp out in between shuddering breaths.  
  
He could almost see the oily smile of the voice's feminine owner, ((Someone you're going to know very soon, and hopefully quite well.))  
  
Deep down in the very depth of his being, Wufei cringed. There was just something so...so nasty about that voice. Something that screamed "I will do whatever it takes to get what I want, and you cannot stop me!"  
  
He really didn't have time to dwell on it, because suddenly three Preventers uniforms came tumbling into the office at once. Amazingly, the strange forcefield had retreated from whence it came. Wufei didn't bother arguing as Sally picked him up, sweating, shivering mess that he was, and stalked off to the infirmary.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Is it safe to say you're unhappy?"  
  
{{OH YEAH.}}  
  
If Michael had had a place to hide, he would have. As it was, he was already pretty damn conspicuous, standing their in the main room of the Preventers building, what with his clean white suit and "resume" in hand. And he was talking to himself.  
  
"Do I really have to do this?" he groaned.  
  
{{Yes. You do. And if you whine again I'll have no issues with putting you back in Announcements and Messages.}}  
  
He sighed, "Yessir." At that moment, a secretary poked her head in, obviously looking around for someone, "Michael?" she said, and Michael almost winced at her nasally voice.  
  
"Yes, that's me, ma'am," he said, flashing a thousand watt smile that made the secretary blush.   
  
She waved at the door to Une's office. "Lady Une will see you now."  
  
"Thank you," he nodded cordially and walked over to rap quietly on the office door. He hoped for an insane moment no one would answer because he REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO DO THIS. But alas, he was defeated by a muffled "come in" through the mahogany.  
  
"And into the Abyss we go," he muttered to himself and shuffled in.  
  
{{Not funny.}}  
  
Lady Une wasn't at her desk, but rather staring out her rather large office window with her back to him. He slowly walked the remaining five feet to her desk, to stand somewhat awkwardly while he waited for her to acknowledge his existence and turn around.   
  
Cripes, she's got a freaking rainforest on her desk here...Michael stared in dumbfounded amazement at the vast assortment of STUFF this woman had on her desk: thick manila envelopes with names scrawled across them in scraggly handwriting, various reports and computer print-outs, several fast food wrappers, and what appeared to be a magazine of something called "Bishounen Weekly"...  
  
"Papers?"  
  
Michael blinked. Une hadn't even turned! "Pardon?" he said.  
  
"Papers," she repeated and craned her neck around to look at him, "Resume?"  
  
"Ah," he handed it to her and hoped that whoever had been in charge of creating his "papers" had actually done a decent job this time...  
  
Lady Une quietly scanned over his resume once, before she started muttering what she was reading, "Michael O'Toole..."  
  
Michael grimaced. Who upstairs had come up with that one??  
  
"You worked for the White Fang?" she asked with an upraised eyebrow.  
  
Michael shrugged, "I was trying to protect my home." No matter how many centuries passed, no matter how much mankind evolved, that excuse always worked...  
  
...even if the angel giving the excuse had no clue what in the frig they were talking about.  
  
Lady Une said nothing for a while, then, "Your credentials do look good..." she trailed off and turned back to her window.  
  
Michael counted to slowly counted to twelve before he ventured the question, "Is something wrong, ma'am?" Not that he didn't already know...   
  
"I certainly hope you don't plan on wearing a suit to the office every day," she said snarkily, ignoring his question. She flipped back to the first page and skimmed it again. "I'd hate to see something so expensive get dirty."  
  
Michael had expected Une to be unhappy - which was part of the reason he REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO BE HERE - and so he took it in stride. "No, ma'am, I don't plan on wearing suits every day. If I wanted that kind of job, I don't think I'd be in your office right now."  
  
"You have a point, Mister O'Toole," she said, flipping back and forth from page to page.  
  
((This is going to work?)) Michael thought, not daring to look upward where his comments had been directed. ((Not that I'm second-guessing you. But...I highly doubt that my replacing Duo Maxwell is going to help the atmosphere around here.))  
  
"I hate to be putting this burden on you now, Lady Une, after that horrible incident yesterday with Mister Maxwell," Michael threw out into the silence, hoping that it would ease a bit of tension. "But I knew you would be shorthanded, and in times like these, I would presume that one needs all the help they can get..."  
  
{{Of course this is going to work. You think I ever come up with a plan that doesn't work?}}  
  
"That's a true statement," Une said, finally looked up into his startlingly blue eyes. Only one other person she'd ever known had had eyes like that.  
  
"Well, Mister O'Toole, your resume is exceptional, and you seem to be a very congenial, fine young man." She set the folder of paper onto her desk, and Michael waited for her to continue.  
  
"So I would like to tell you that you've been hired by the Preventers. You start immediately." She pressed the intercom button on her desk, adjusting her glasses. "Lainers, please get someone to give O'Toole a show of our building. And send someone to get him a uniform."  
  
Michael sighed. Well, if anything, he was committed now. He had his boy to look after; hopefully Smoke could keep Duo in check. Into the Abyss, indeed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It didn't make any sense!  
  
Sally felt like letting loose a frustrated short scream, but she settled for giving one of the pasty white walls of the infirmary a good THWAP!  
  
Vital signs were completely normal! No fevers, spasms, trembles, shakes, or twitches! No dilation of the eyes, no sense of disorientation, no dizziness! No headache, no nausea, no sniffles, no sneezing. There was NOTHING WRONG with Chang Wufei! In fact, she could hardly believe that this person sitting crankily on the infirmary cot was the same one who scant minutes before had been in the middle of an awful seizure...  
  
Wufei's arms were crossed and he was scowling up at her through the ebony strands of hair that had fallen into his face. Part of Sally wanted to coo; he looked like a petulant child! But her other parts-the parts with an iota of common sense-were, to be blunt, scared shitless.  
  
Something was very, very wrong with Wufei. That was scary enough. But what frightened her even more was even if she did figure out what had happened to him, she didn't think there was a damned thing she could do to help him.  
  
"Onna, can I leave?" he asked impatiently, sounding like yesterday's Wufei.  
  
Sally huffed and glared back down at the stat board in her hand. Yup. He was still in peek condition.   
  
"Chang," she said in the same exasperated tone, "You just threw a bunch of office papers at that poor McGivers child, collapsed into seizures in your office for what, ten minutes?, and now you ask me if you can leave?" she shook her head, "What do you think?"  
  
"That you'll be reasonable for a change?"  
  
"NO," she stalked forward and pushed against his shoulders, trying to get him to lay down, "This is a cot," she said through gritted teeth, "It's where sick little Preventers take nappy-byes. This," she fluffed up the lumpy bag of pseudo-cotton, "is a pitiful excuse for a pillow. It's where sick little Preventers lay down their sick little heads during their nappy-byes," Sally could feel holes burning into her forehead from Wufei's glare, but she continued, "You are Chang Wufei a la a sick little Preventer, so therefore, you need to stay where the sick little Preventers are supposed to stay."  
  
Wufei fixed her with a long, cold look, "Are you done?" he asked bluntly. He had refused to lie down, despite her hands shoving down against his shoulders.  
  
Sally blew out an exasperated sigh through her clenched teeth, "Wufei, PLEASE!" she shook her head and decided her temples needed massaged more than the stubborn Preventer needed to be pushed.  
  
"I have work, onna."  
  
"And I don't?" she snapped back at him.  
  
If Wufei cared, he didn't show it. In fact, he was starting to stand, and from there, he would no doubt be on his way out the door.  
  
Sally felt her abused nerves snap, "STAY!" she growled low in her throat and ~threw~ Wufei down onto the cot. He blinked at her in startled surprise, but didn't try to get back up. It was a good thing he didn't, because she sure didn't trust herself not to kill him.  
  
"Wufei, quit trying with the Heero bull-shit. You're hurting. Duh. We all are. But I refuse to let you burn yourself out. I won't let you do it. I've seen you comatose on this same damned cot too many times! You are going to listen to me, Chang Wufei, even if I have to break both your legs and your left arm to get you to stay put!"  
  
There! She felt mildly better. It was good just to threaten every now and then.   
  
Sally sighed again and said a bit more quietly, "I don't want to see you hurt anymore, Wufei. Can't you understand that?"  
  
Wufei's onyx eyes studied her through the fop of hair in his face.  
  
Fop. Sally repressed the insane urge to giggle. "Fop" and "Wufei" were two words she had never expected to see in the same sentence. Ohhh boy, she was definitely more tired than she thought.  
  
Finally, Wufei nodded once. Not the old Wufei who had enjoyed a brief cameo. No, this was new, heartbroken Wufei, "I'm sorry," he said in the same quiet, almost dead-sounding voice he had been talking in since... "I'm sorry," he repeated.  
  
"So am I." Sally ran her fingers through her messy locks of hair-she hadn't really had time today to do much other than run a brush through it---and winced at the tangles her fingers snagged, "Do you want anything? Tea? Stuffed animal? Trashy romance novel?"  
  
A light snore was her only answer.  
  
Sally blinked in mild surprise. Well, Wufei had probably gotten significantly less sleep than she did, not to mention that...attack...from earlier. She flipped off the infirmary lights, set her wrist-watch to beep in an hour and a half, and made her way to Une's office for her report.  
  
The stat board still listed Wufei's physical health as impeccable, and Sally wasn't quite sure how to explain that. She had better think of a way in the next two minutes, for Lady Une really wasn't a fan of loose threads...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
~AA&M 


	3. Chapter Three

"Everybody's got something they had to leave behind  
  
One regret from yesterday that just seems to grow with time  
  
There's no use looking back or wondering how it could be now or might have been  
  
Oh this I know but still I can't find ways to let you go..."  
  
--Steps - "Never Had a Dream Come True"  
  
Wufei had decided that he would not wear a suit. Although tradition demanded clothing of the stuffy, stodgy nature that no one would ever dream of wearing otherwise...he couldn't. Duo wouldn't want his friends to be all "dressed in their Sunday best", as he used to say, Wufei didn't think that's what he would have wanted. Instead, he had opted for a nice, crisp white shirt and dark slacks. As he observed his friends occupying the row of chairs with him, he could see that they had done the same.  
  
Duo. Every time he even thought the name, his chest tightened and he could barely breathe. He knew it wasn't healthy, he knew he should tell Sally...but he didn't. Perhaps it was his masochistic subconscious, or his stubborn conscious, that was keeping him from mentioning it. Whatever it was, he wouldn't mention it. The woman had enough on her mind, she didn't need to be stressing over his inability to control his own damn feelings...  
  
There weren't a whole lot of people Wufei could recognize, which was surprising and, at the same time, not surprising at all. Duo had touched so many people over the years, and it made sense that they'd all fly out to pay respects. In the first row, along with him, were who Wufei deemed the "nearest and dearest". This included Heero, Trowa and Quatre (they seemed to be inseparable lately), himself, Sally, and Une. In the row behind him were some of the Preventers agents and other assorted employees, including that new agent, O'Toole. His new partner. To replace Duo...  
  
He tried to remain calm as his chest cramped again, squeezing the air out of his lungs. Sally, who happened to be sitting next to him, raised an eyebrow, but he just shook his head and muttered something about heartburn. Sally seemed to buy his excuse, and turned back towards the front of the assembly. Wufei breathed a sigh of relief that was more like a short gasp. He could get through this. He could do it.  
  
For what seemed the hundredth time, he examined the crinkled white paper that was clenched in his right fist. Later, after the man officiating was done talking about Duo's hard-working and ever-loving soul was finally liberated and at rest, the people assembled would have a chance to stand up and talk. Wufei had a feeling that that alone would take a considerable amount of time. Everyone would have a Duo story they would just HAVE to tell. Heero would probably talk about the incident with the coffee maker, Quatre would talk about the time Duo put dishwashing liquid into one of his estates' fountains, Une...maybe about that prized plush kitten that had mysteriously appeared on her desk from him one day...  
  
As for Wufei...  
  
Wufei planned to tell of a fool who had let his heart's desire slip through his fingers. Reiterate how one always thinks that he has all the time in the world to build up the courage to confess, but like a bad movie cliché...  
  
How'd that poem go? Wufei mused to himself. He was my noon, my midnight, my talk and my song...I thought that love would last forever...I was wrong...  
  
The cramp in his chest had dulled to an ache-irritating, painful, but nothing he'd die from. He'd had worse during the war. He shook his head wryly; Duo would get a kick out of---  
  
He clenched the hem of his shirt as another sudden wave seized him.  
  
Sally was trying her darndest to pay attention to Trowa's story about Duo and an incident with a box of violin strings and some very interesting pictures of Heero, but as she watched him out of the corner of her eye, she couldn't help but feel a little niggling bit of worry in the bottom of her stomach. Wufei kept breathing hard and clutching his shirt, and it had only been a day since that episode in his office. She still had no answer for Wufei's painful seizure, but she was going to figure it out. Nothing was going to take him from her too; one casualty was enough for her to last a long time.  
  
Trowa had to pause to clear his throat and regain a little bit of dignity, so Sally leaned over briefly in Wufei's direction.  
  
"If something's wrong, you need to tell me," she hissed. "I need to help you."  
  
Wufei snorted softly, hiding the fact that it had made his chest spasm. "I'm fine, woman. Lay off."  
  
Sally just shook her head and turned her attention back to Trowa. "Fine. Be masochistic. But if I think you need to take a trip to the hospital, then you're going whether I have to drug you or not."  
  
Their dialogue ceased for awhile, as they listened to each of the little stories people told about Duo. Unfortunately for Wufei, every time his name was mentioned, he had to clench his fists and hope that he was going to last long enough to get through his speech and away from Dr. Po the Hypochondriac.  
  
As Une finished her speech about Duo's dedication to his job and to the peace he'd helped create, she signaled to him with a raised eyebrow that it would be his turn to speak next.  
  
Wufei took a few steadying breaths and hoped Sally would think they were to alleviate nervousness. Wufei had never been afraid of public speaking in his life, but with Sally playing Mama Hen, it might not be a bad idea to pretend to be. He'd been under her medical ministrations enough to suit twelve lifetimes.   
  
He slowly made his way to the podium, and looked out at the tear-streaked faces of the audience. His fingers curled around the podium's side; hopefully that was enough to keep him upright for five or six minutes.  
  
"Let me tell you a story," he started solemnly, "Not about violin strings or confetti raining from the sprinkler system...this is a story about an idiot," he chuckled at the flabbergasted expressions he was receiving, "No, no, not Duo---" he grimaced and breathed deeply before continuing. Hopefully, no one had noticed, "A different idiot. An idiot who could face down mobile suits, Treize Khusherenada, and his own family, but couldn't admit to one simple thing," he paused not only for effect, but because the ache in his chest was becoming even more pronounced, "He couldn't admit to love.  
  
"We all know that Duo was beautiful...inside and out as corny as it sounds...he loved life, he loved his cat...and everyone loved him..."  
  
Sally sat forward in her seat, biting her lip to keep from leaping up. To say Wufei looked like hell would be an understatement. He was clinging to the podium as if it was a life-line, his face was the color of talcum powder, and he was breathing in shallow gasps.   
  
"Everyone loved him, but only one person was stupid enough to neglect telling him." Everyone exchanged confused looks with the person next to them, until Wufei managed to add, "Me."  
  
That got the reaction Wufei had predicted - a collective gasp. He hated the pained look Sally was giving him, but he did his best to ignore it so he could finish his speech and then collapse into a dead heap.  
  
"'Fei..." From behind him, a long arm reached out and touched his shoulder. Duo tried to help steady Wufei as much as possible, but it's hard to do when you're not exactly solid. He was ever-so-slowly starting to sink, but he was trying his best to stay upright.  
  
"Every day, I told myself, 'Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I'll stop by his office and I'll tell him.' But I never did," he said, swallowing hard. "I didn't realize how much I would miss by not telling him until he wasn't around for me to..."  
  
He faltered suddenly, gripping the podium until both hands were as white as his face. Everyone gasped and Sally made a jump out of her seat, but he waved her off.  
  
"...until he wasn't around." He looked out at the row of his friends, seeing Quatre's deep eyes pool with even more tears, Trowa's mixture of shock and sadness, and Heero's averted eyes. Une just mouthed 'I'm sorry', and then looked down at her lap again.  
  
"And I just wish I could get one more day...hell, one more hour with him, so I could tell him. So he would know...and so I wouldn't feel like such a fucking coward."  
  
"'Fei, you're not a coward!" Duo shouted as his back, even though his voice would not be heard. "Don't ever say that!"  
  
By now, it was obvious even to the most lay of the laymen, that something was terribly wrong with Wufei. If the podium hadn't been there, there was no doubt that Wufei would be puddled out all over the floor. Watching him trying to brave through his speech was painful and listening to his heart break was even worse. But nobody wanted to get up to rob him of his confessional, for which Wufei was quite grateful.  
  
"I wish I had some brainy quote to finish this whole thing up with..." Wufei was sagging into the podium, his voice nothing more than a harsh whisper, "Duo loved random quotes..." Wufei gasped sharply and started to fall.  
  
"'Fei!" Duo tried to catch the unconscious boy, but he fell through Duo's hands. Duo wanted to scream in frustration. He couldn't tell Wufei how he felt in life, and now he couldn't help him see that this whole situation ~wasn't~ his fault! It wasn't fair!!  
  
Wufei hit the carpeted floor with a sickening crunch and Duo let out a small cry.  
  
Sally was up and flying across the distance from her chair to the podium, Une right on her heels. Heero had materialized from who-knew-where to Wufei's side, and Duo could see Quatre and Trowa starting to elbow their way through some now-panicking Preventers. And in the very back of the room...  
  
Duo blinked.  
  
In the very back of the room was a woman Duo had never seen before. She was pale and her jet hair tumbled past her waist. And she was looking at him. Right at him. At Duo. She could SEE him and she was smirking at him.  
  
He swallowed.  
  
  
  
"He'll be mine," she shouted at him. "You had your chance, and you lost him. Now he's mine!"  
  
"No! I won't let you use him!" Duo shouted back, but the woman's smirk transformed itself into a nasty grin.  
  
"You have no say. I'll use the thing he wants most - you - to bring him to my side!" She wiggled her talons, and something black and ominous seemed to snake across the room and up the podium to Wufei's fallen body. Duo squawked as it slithered into his head.  
  
Wufei struggled to get his eyes open, and when he finally did, he didn't see what he expected to. He was no longer sprawled on carpet, but kneeling in a very different place. The landscape was dark and ominous; sharp black rocks stuck out from every direction imaginable, and everything was covered in thick, blood-red fog.  
  
"Where am I?" He looked around to get his bearings, but realized that his view was exactly the same in every direction. "A better question would be, 'why I am I here?'"  
  
"Wufei..."  
  
Wufei sprang to his feet. That voice...that was Duo's voice!  
  
"Wufei, please...be with me..."  
  
"Duo! Where are you?" he shouted, his voice echoing off the strange cliffs. "Duo!"  
  
Out of fog, someone began to walk toward him. Wufei squinted to see them better, but he could not make out the face.  
  
"Wufei..."  
  
But he could sure make out the voice.  
  
"Duo!" He rushed forward, tripping and stumbling over a few poorly placed rocks.  
  
"Wufei!" Everything about Duo suddenly began to smile; his posture perked up, his eyes positively glittered.  
  
"Duo, where are we?" he asked, reaching out to touch Duo, to make sure he was real. As his knuckles brushed up against Duo's shoulder, he sighed. It was real. Solid, beautiful, and reeked of mango-n-starfruit shampoo. Yes, it was Duo.  
  
Wufei had the urge to just break down right then and there. Everything that had happened in the past 24 hours was starting to fade like a horrible dream...  
  
With a muffled sob, Wufei sprung into Duo's arms, and much to his utter delight, Duo didn't cast him aside. Rather, he pulled him closer, and buried his face in the crook of Wufei's neck.  
  
"I thought...I thought..." Wufei stammered out, not quite sure what he was intending to say. He could feel tears starting to slide down his cheeks, but he did nothing to stop them. Gods, he was so relieved! Everything would be okay now! He'd been given his second chance!   
  
"I know," Duo whispered into his hair, "I know, Wufei," he tightened his arms around Wufei and sighed his own blissful sigh, "But Wufei...we're not out of the woods yet...I need your help..."  
  
Wufei quickly nodded, "Anything!"  
  
If Wufei had seen Duo's grin, he might not have been so eager to help. If Wufei had seen Duo's grin, he might have questioned himself on whether or not this was the actual Duo. After all, how many sentences had Duo uttered without sticking Wufei with some odd nickname? But considering Duo's face was nuzzled in Wufei's neck, he didn't see the grin. And, also considering Wufei was relieved to find Duo alive, he didn't pay notice to the lack of "wu-man"s, "fei-babe"s, "wu-wu"s, and "fei-kitty-pants-chan"s...  
  
"There's trouble brewing," Duo said. "They tried to take us apart, Wufei, and we can't let them do that to us."  
  
"'They'? 'Them'? Who are you talking about?" Wufei couldn't think of anyone who'd actually known about his feelings for Duo, let alone anyone who'd act to sabotage them.  
  
"The Powers That Be, Wufei. His Almightiness. Father In Heaven. God's trying to ruin us, Wufei." Duo's voice had suddenly gotten sharper. "They try and tell us it's His way, there's nothing you can do...Bullshit."  
  
Wufei tried to interject, but Duo kept going. "I need you to come with me. Away from everything He's connected to. He'll never get in our way again, Wufei. We can finally have what we always wanted..."  
  
Oh, how tempting it sounded! Abandon all the pain and suffering that he'd been given, devote himself to Duo and Duo alone...  
  
...but then Sally's pained, miserable face came floating back into view, and Une's sympathetic eyes, and Quatre's cute fluffy plushies, and Trowa's smirk...  
  
No, none of them mattered. Only Duo mattered. Only the things that Duo needed mattered. He could put all the others behind him...  
  
"I don't want to see you hurt anymore, Wufei. I need to help you."  
  
"I'm sorry..."  
  
"Please, call us?"  
  
"Duo, I love you, but can I...can I really abandon them like this?" he asked softly, gripping Duo's shirt in his fists.  
  
"I know you don't want to, but you've gotta, Wufei. If you want to be with me, it's the only way," he whispered, nuzzling his head into Wufei's silky black hair.  
  
"No! Stop lying to him!"  
  
Wufei jumped slightly at the new voice. Only it wasn't new, it was Duo's! But that couldn't be right because Duo was right here and Duo hadn't spoken! But if this was Duo holding him, and if this was Duo nuzzling him, and if this was Duo talking softly to him...  
  
Who in the hell was that?!  
  
Wufei peeked over Duo's shoulder to see...Duo. Except it wasn't Duo, because Duo had never been endowed with wings. But this Duo had wings. Large, white, beautiful, swan-like wings. They should've looked ridiculous. They should've looked out of place. But rather it was just the opposite. Those wings belonged. They were meant to be there.  
  
The wings weren't the only thing different about this new Duo. Wufei couldn't describe it-he hadn't been lying when he said that Duo had been beautiful in life. However, this Duo...this Duo...this Duo seemed to glow.  
  
The Duo that had been embracing Wufei whipped his head around in shock, "What are ~you~ doing here?! How did you get here??" he spat.  
  
Winged Duo shrugged, "I don't know how I got here..." he mumbled kinda sheepishly. But then he locked eyes with the other Duo, and his amethyst eyes turned fiery, "As for what I'm doing here, RAVEN, I think it's obvious."  
  
The pseudo-Duo's form melted and Wufei found himself being held in the embrace of a rather attractive woman. Or rather, she would have been attractive if her delicate features weren't scrunched up in a sneer...and if she hadn't been trying to trick him by impersonating Duo, "Michael," she snarled after a moment, "Michael was at the wake. Michael sent you here."  
  
Duo nodded, "You should really double-check everything before launching an attack, sugarbumps. Now," his tone lowered, "I'm going to say this once: let my 'Fei go."  
  
Raven crushed Wufei closer to her breast, and he winced as he felt her talons digging into the skin of his back, "What are you going to do, Mr. Maxwell?" she asked sarcastically, "YOU can't touch him! If he passes out from merely ~thinking~ about you, what's he going to do if he's tainted by you?"  
  
Duo actually looked startled, "But...but...I was trying to touch him at the wake..."  
  
Wufei's eyes widened. Duo had been at his own wake?! So Duo had heard his little tirade...  
  
"You're a non-corporeal being on Earth, idiot! You CAN'T touch him! But not here! Not here!" somehow, she managed to hold Wufei tighter, "And I'm not relinquishing my prize to you! He's MINE!"  
  
Okay. Wufei had had it with the possessive, lying, bitchy demoness. He had had an incredibly lousy couple of days, and someone was going to get beaten down. And it looked like the Raven woman was just aching for an elbow to the gut or a foot to the jaw.  
  
"Woman," he growled as he readied himself for attack, "Like the band said, you. Don't. Own. Me. Now!" and he lashed out.  
  
"Can we touch the soul of heaven?  
  
Can we unite a sacred lesson?  
  
Every child creates a skylight of beauty..."  
  
Someone's soft, sweet voice began to sing, and Duo looked around,  
  
puzzled, for its source.  
  
"Can you hear cathedrals falling?  
  
All the universe is calling,  
  
Cry a single cello from your heart..."  
  
Raven rolled awkwardly as Wufei's fist connected with her jaw with  
  
incredibly force. She sprung back up quickly, licking away a trickle  
  
of blood from her lip.  
  
"Every voice along the shoreline  
  
Standing still within time  
  
Spinning unresolved the walking..."  
  
"You got one cheap shot, boy," she snarled, and she leapt into the  
  
air.  
  
"As each season passes  
  
Through wonderland, looking glasses  
  
The secret garden shire beckons you..."  
  
"Isn't there something I can do?" Duo shouted, turning his attention  
  
above him. The soft voice ignored him and continued to sing, but   
  
Michael's voice interjected briefly.  
  
"I know this is going to sound moronic, but let your heart guide you,  
  
Duo!" he said. "That's the only way you can push Raven out!"  
  
Duo nodded resolutely. They would regret hurting his 'Fei!  
  
Wufei yelped as Raven's foot snapped down onto his shoulder, sending  
  
him stumbling backwards into the sharp rock. They ripped away at his  
  
uniform, and his arms and chest began to bleed. She landed on top of  
  
him, and pinned him against the towering stone with all her weight.  
  
"Give yourself up," she whispered, leaning her forehead against his.  
  
"You'll be sacrificing for a greater good!"  
  
"Leave him alone, Raven." Something sharp and sizzling exploded on  
  
Raven's back, and she screamed as she was torn away from Wufei. Duo's  
  
face definitely screamed Not Pleased, and his entire body was  
  
radiating a white hot glow now.  
  
"I'm only going to say this one more time, and then I'll have to get  
  
really nasty," he growled deep in his throat. "Get away from Wufei."  
  
"It's my mission to bring him back," she wheezed, struggling to get  
  
to her feet.  
  
Duo chuckled, and it was not a nice chuckled. "I don't give a flying   
  
fuck what your mission is. You can't have him."  
  
"Gentle flower, don't fade away!  
  
Sweet innocent still harbors thee,  
  
In faith of garden dreams  
  
Where one love lives eternally!"  
  
Wufei watched this scene, with Duo and the demoness, with a detached  
  
fascination. All this fighting, over him? What had he ever done to  
  
become so coveted?  
  
It's not really something you did. I suppose this whole mess is all  
  
My fault, but I'm not letting the other guy get away scot-free  
  
either.  
  
"Who...are you?" Wufei asked. There were too many voices going at the  
  
same time, and they were all giving Wufei a headache.  
  
Oh, no one particularly important. I'll give you a formal  
  
introduction later.  
  
For lack of anything better, Wufei responded dumbly, "Aa."  
  
"I'm not going to shred you now, Raven," Duo said, wings suddenly  
  
extending to their full length, making Duo look like some gorgeous  
  
mythical being. "I might do it later, since 'Fei's subconscious  
  
really isn't the right place for us non-corporeal beings to get all  
  
gooky with each other, yah know what I mean? So I'm going to let you  
  
flee like the little trapped rodent that you are. And you'd better  
  
hope I don't see your face for a very long time, because angel or  
  
not, I'm still the God of Death."  
  
Raven's eyes narrowed and she took a step back. She wanted Wufei-who wouldn't??-but she wasn't willing to be mangled in his subconscious by a jealous lover. She did have a sense of self-preservation after all.  
  
"I won't forget this," she promised darkly.  
  
"Spoken like a true villain," Duo responded snidely.  
  
Raven scowled before disappearing into her flurry of black feathers and bobby pins.  
  
As if in slow motion, Duo turned from where the demoness had vanished to face Wufei. Wufei was staring at him with wide, chocolate colored eyes, and he was trying to speak, but no words were emerging. Duo smiled slightly, "Hello, Wufei."  
  
"Duo...?" Wufei whispered, almost afraid that if he spoke too loudly, whatever spell had been cast would be broken.  
  
Duo nodded once.  
  
Once more the color drained from Wufei's face, and he extended a trembling hand, "Duo..." he said shakily, "Duo...I..."  
  
"I know..." Duo held up his own hand, but despite what his heart was screaming at him to do, he didn't touch Wufei. Raven's taunts were still fresh in his mind, and he wouldn't be the instrument of death to one he loved.  
  
"You can't stay here, Chang Wufei," came Michael's voice from above.  
  
"Who's that?" Wufei asked, cursing himself for wasting his precious time with Duo with stupid questions like that.  
  
"His name's Michael, and he's sorta second-in-command of that whole crew," Duo jerked his thumb upward. "Second only to the Big Guy himself, if you know what I mean."  
  
"I'm not sure I do."  
  
The Powers That Be, His Almightiness, Father In Heaven, or the Artist Formerly Known as God.  
  
"You mean...you...and...he...?" Wufei was having a hard time putting this all together.  
  
"Look, this is all nice and crap," Michael snapped irritably. "But you two can't stay there. Raven created this place, and it's going to implode any second now."  
  
"Wait!" Wufei shouted, reaching out for Duo's hand. Before he could touch it, the braided boy pulled it away and looked at the ground.  
  
"I'm really sorry, 'Fei, but...he's right. I have to go," he whispered. In a flurry of white feathers and staples, Duo faded away.  
  
"No, Duo, wait! Wait!" Wufei cried, looking upward. "Please, no, don't go again..."  
  
"You have no idea how much I want to stay, 'Fei. But, there are rules, and...gods, I'm sorry..."  
  
Wufei fell onto the hard, jagged black soil with a sob. When he made contact with the ground, he found himself on the carpet again, five familiar distraught faces right up in his. I'm so glad I didn't give this up, he thought.  
  
"Well, hello there," he croaked, as Sally fiddled with his shirt sleeve so she could get his pulse.  
  
"Don't you 'hello there' ME, young man!!" she snapped irritably and grasped his wrist so hard that Wufei could feel the flesh bruise under her fingertips, "I ~told~ you to tell me if something was wrong with you! I ~told~ you!! Now look at you! Gods, Chang! If you were anymore irresponsible..." Sally trailed off into a long strain of various assorted mumbled curses.  
  
Wufei smiled slightly to himself. It was good to be back. Ohhhhh yes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I want answers."  
  
Sally heaved a sigh. Une had said that to her how many times in the past three days? Not only was the monotony irritating, but her lack of any answer was irritating as well.  
  
"I don't have any, Une-sama."  
  
Now Une heaved the sigh, for that had been Sally's response every time she had asked that very question. Une didn't like loose ends. Period. She hated movies where the audience had to interpret the ending, and she hated mysteries. Especially when they concerned her staff.  
  
"Let's think this through logically," she started.  
  
Sally sighed again. Indeed, this was becoming a never-ending cycle.  
  
"One, Duo is killed. Two, Wufei goes into seizures. Three, Wufei collapses," Une listed, ticking each and every incident off on her fingers. She leaned forward intently in her over-plushed office chair, "Why?"  
  
"You forgot the hiring of the new guy!" Duo quipped from his vantage point of perched on the corner of Une's desk.  
  
Neither of the women heard him.  
  
"I don't know, Une-sama," Sally said, and plunked down in one of the hard plastic chairs littering Une's office, "Do you know how hard it is for me to say those words in sequence...and so many times, to boot?"  
  
"Say, Sally...where's Wufei?" Duo asked.  
  
"Sally, where's Wufei?" Une asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose in exasperation.  
  
"He's in the infirmary. I threatened to break both of his legs and stuff his right arm up his nose if he even THOUGHT about leaving."  
  
"Well, he's a smart boy. Stubborn as an ass, but smart." She paused as someone knocked at the door. "Yes?"  
  
"I hate to be a bother, ma'am, but..." Une recognized the meek voice as O'Toole's.  
  
"Come on in, O'Toole. You might as well be in on this too," she sighed, and the heavy wooden door creaked open. The white haired young man slipped in, and then quickly shut it behind him.  
  
"I'm worried about Mister Chang, ma'am," he said, pulling himself up a chair and sitting next to Sally.  
  
Duo snickered. "Gads, you see him acting this way, and then you hear him yell and scream about how Humans Will Ruin Themselves. I swear it isn't the same guy."  
  
"Welcome to the club, O'Toole," Sally shook her head. "We've been pondering and pondering as hard as we can ponder, but I'll be damned if we've got even an inkling of what's wrong with him."  
  
"I guess x-rays don't look for demon taintings," Duo added. Michael, although in mortal form, could still hear Duo talking and it took all of his strength to keep from laughing aloud or smacking him (whichever came first).  
  
"Maybe it's an emotional problem?" Michael offered. "He does seem to take Mister Maxwell's death very hard, although I can't blame him."  
  
"Yes, the staff did get very close to him. Ch--Wufei, especially, since they had been partners for quite some time," Une agreed. And Wufei loved him more than he loves himself, she added.  
  
"I feel badly, replacing Mister Maxwell like this. I'd understand if Mister Chang resented me for it," Michael said softly, scratching his head. "I know I wouldn't like it if some new recruit stepped in right after such a senseless death..."  
  
"Man, have you taken acting lessons?" Duo shook his head, trying to mask the fact that he hated the way the conversation was heading. "I'd almost believe you, if I didn't know better."  
  
Michael kept his face set in worry, but inside he was laughing and crying at the same time. Poor Duo, to have to stand around and watch this play out...  
  
"Don't feel bad, O'Toole," Sally said with a shake of her head, "It is going to be hard without Duo around, but no one's going to hold you to Duo. We're professionals," she winked.  
  
Michael gave a small laugh, "Well that's a relief, ma'am."  
  
Duo rolled his eyes, "Cornball," he muttered.  
  
There was a light knock at Une's door, and the trio of humans and the non-corporeal being turned, "Come in," Une called out.  
  
Wufei stumbled through the door.  
  
Michael blinked.  
  
Une blinked.  
  
Sally shot to her feet and was half-way across the office in between blinks, "Dammit, Chang!" she grabbed him by the arm and resisted the urge to wildly shake him, "I told you---!!"  
  
"I wanted some tea, woman," he glared up at her, "And you've been in here all afternoon."  
  
Une raised an eyebrow, "Wufei, this isn't the coffee room..."  
  
Wufei sighed in exasperation and folded his arms. Une almost withered under his glare. He was crabby alright. Ho boy, was he crabby.  
  
"Some weakling hid the..." Wufei's voice trailed off. He stared at the corner of Une's desk in confusion, "Duo...?" he whispered.  
  
"Hey, 'Fei," Duo said softly, and then jumped about a foot in the air. How could Wufei see him? He was a friggin' non-corporeal being! He'd covered his tracks like Smoke had taught him! So why could Wufei...?  
  
"Must have something to do with that whole Raven thing..." he muttered. Michael's face suddenly looked puzzled and he turned around to face Wufei and his non-mortal assistant.  
  
"Mister Chang?" he said. "You're not looking well. Maybe you should go sit down, and I'll get some tea for you...?"  
  
(( The hell is going on?! )) Duo's heard Michael's voice bark in his head. (( Une can't see you, Sally can't see you... ))  
  
"It probably has something to do with Raven! Don't get your knickers in a snit!" Duo snapped back.  
  
He heard Michael snort and muttered something about hating knickers, although no one else did. He got out of his chair, and led Wufei out of the room, carefully, by his arm. Wufei began to protest, but a quick glare out of Michael's sharp blue eyes shut his yap pretty fast.  
  
"C'mon, sir. Miss Po is busy. I'll help you out," he said, closing the door behind him with a kick of his foot.  
  
Duo sighed, turning around to slip through the wall - since he didn't really need the door. "Raven, I will kill you yet, you slimy bag of puss..."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Raven sneezed.  
  
With a sigh, she took her dainty black silk kerchief from a pocket and dabbled at her delicate little nose. Sheesh. Earth with its pollution and general vileness. If her nose got chafed from too much sneezing, she and the Boss were having words.  
  
Raven stopped in front of a tall, drab grey building, and she double-checked the directions that had been hastily scribbled on a Post-It note. Corner of Fifth and Dreyman? Check. Non-descript parking lot? Check? Sign that declared said building to be Preventers HQ? Check.  
  
Raven ran her human hands through her dark tresses once and shook her head. If Michael could play at being human, well she could too! She was going to get that Chang boy, no matter what she had to do.  
  
With a slight giggle, she pushed open the door and made her way to the elevators.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Let me go."  
  
"Please, Mr. Chang, sir---"  
  
"O'Toole! LET. ME. GO."  
  
Against his better judgment, Michael let Wufei go. However, Wufei didn't bolt right back into Lady Une's office like he had expected. Rather he rubbed at the arm that Michael had been holding, and shook his head.  
  
"I wasn't hallucinating," Wufei said briskly.  
  
Michael agreed. Wufei hadn't been hallucinating. But Michael O'Toole wasn't supposed to realize that, "Sir, you have been working---"  
  
"Will you stop calling me 'sir'!" Wufei snapped irritably and starting to stomp in the direction of the coffee room. Michael had no choice but to follow, "I saw Duo, O'Toole! I saw him on Une's desk!" he stopped and whipped around so quickly that Michael almost plowed into him, "Do you believe me?" he asked quietly, with his eyes downcast.  
  
Michael groped for something to say. Somehow, "yes, I do believe you, because he and I were chatting," just didn't seem to sit right. Think like a human, Michael reminded himself. Think like a human.  
  
"I'd like to believe you sir---Mister Chang," he said, somehow both quickly and reluctantly, "But this paranormal stuff...it's beyond me!"  
  
Wufei was quiet for a moment, "I'm not going crazy," he mumbled, "I'm not..."  
  
"I didn't say you were," Michael said, turning his attention to the cabinet so he could find his new partner some tea.  
  
"But you were thinking it," Wufei added sourly.  
  
Michael finally produced a bag of Earl Gray. "Was not."  
  
He winced. (( Gads, that was mature. Maybe I should stick my tongue out for good measure... ))  
  
(( No, whatever you do, don't do that, )) Duo's voice echoed. He was wisely staying out of the coffee room. (( He'd slice it off with his katana first. ))  
  
Michael did his best not to snicker aloud as he stuck the tea bag into a chipped mug that proclaimed, "WELCOME TO HELL - NOW GO HOME" and handed it to Wufei. When Wufei looked hurt at the mug he'd been handed, Michael wanted to shoot himself.  
  
(( Stab and twist, )) he thought guiltily. (( Here, have Duo's old mug! If Raven doesn't kill him, I just might. ))  
  
(( Can I come in? ))  
  
(( NO! )) Michael shouted, and he could almost hear Duo wince.   
  
(( No, )) he said again, this time a little less rough. ((Right now, you'd just make it worse. Stay THERE. ))  
  
"I think you've just gone through an awful time, Mister Chang, and stress is just catching up to you," he said aloud, as Wufei held the mug as if it were made of precious crystal.  
  
"I know what I saw," Wufei snapped. "It wasn't stress, by God, it was Duo."  
  
Now we're dragging Me into this?!  
  
(( Not you too! Stop distracting me! )) Michael moaned. (( You'll make me look suspicious - as if the white hair didn't do it! ))  
  
Suddenly, Wufei brushed past Michael and across the hallway, toward the vicinity of Duo's office. Fortunately, he had not looked to his left as he'd exited, because he would have caught Duo looking much like a deer in the headlights. Michael rushed out after him, sending Duo a Look that said "Stay back or I'll yell at you later".  
  
"Ah, si--Mister Chang, where are you going?" he asked, but his question went on deaf ears. Wufei transferred the grip of the steamy mug into one hand, and placed the other on the worn brass latch of the door that proclaimed "DUO MAXWELL WORKS HERE!".  
  
Michael hoped beyond all hope that whatever Raven had done to him wouldn't kill him when he entered the office.  
  
But no, Wufei pushed open the door and stepped in without incident. Michael breathed a sigh of relief...which lasted for about three seconds. His eyes widened and he rubbed at his temples, "Not nowwwww," he pleaded, "Raven..."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Duo's office hadn't changed from the last time Wufei had seen it. Why would it? No one had been able to muster the courage to peek into the office. Hell, no one had even been able to lock the door! The scent of Duo's incredibly powerful mango and starfruit shampoo wafted through the room, making Wufei slightly dizzy. He carefully set the mug of tea on the bookshelf, in between Duo's prized bat plushie and several abandoned manga. He picked his way through the various papers littering the floor and somehow made it to the desk.  
  
The desk was covered in STUFF. Several rainforests had obviously met their death with all the paper work scattered about. It made ~Une's~ desk look sparse by comparison.  
  
Just the computer space alone was covered with personal items. A tiny figure of Death with long bat-wings seemed to glare down at him with little glowing eyes. The monitor was covered with tiny sticky-notes with Duo's scribbled handwriting, with reminders like, "phone q-bean about une's b-day surprise," "finish roebert-vice report," and "make my 'fei smile once a shift."  
  
Wufei stopped looking and stared at the last one, flashing a neon-yellow like a tiny beacon: Make my 'Fei smile. ~My~ 'Fei. Not just 'Fei, Wu-dude, 'Fei-kitty...~my~ 'Fei. He fingered the edges, and he couldn't take his eyes off the little note. All this time, Duo had made it his mission to make him happy every day? The thought made the cold hole in his chest just the tiniest bit warmer. He didn't read too much into "my 'Fei"; he called Une "my dear Lady Bitch", and Trowa "my silent shadow"...It was just another term of endearment, like he used for everyone. But how he wished it were different...  
  
His eyes roamed over the framed photos. There was a picture of Heero wearing a pair of kitty ears, looking particularly unamused. There was a picture of Milliardo's proposal to Noin; he was grinning as she nearly swallowed the diamond ring in the bottom of her wineglass. There was a picture of Trowa and Quatre curled up under a dogwood tree, asleep under a covering of fallen blossoms. Tucked carefully under a coffee mug with an upside-down smiley face on it, there was a white envelope with his name written in sprawling cursive. He pulled it out carefully, and clenched his fist around it until his knuckles turned white. The letter was for him, but with Duo gone...was it wrong to open it?  
  
  
  
Did it matter?  
  
Wufei ran a finger under the seal, breaking it, and removed the piece of stationary that had been folded within.   
  
(( Oh boy... )) Duo stuck his head into the office, making sure Wufei's back was facing him at all times. ((Ohhh boy oh boy... ))  
  
"You ain't just whistling Dixie, kiddo," Michael muttered, and then made a "meep!" sound as he realized he'd said that aloud. Fortunately, Wufei was way too engrossed with the letter to pay him any mind.  
  
"'I have to tell you this now so if that day comes when one of us leaves and doesn't come back, we'll both have this out in the open'..." Wufei whispered aloud, eyes slowly widening with every line he took in.  
  
(( I guess that note wasn't a stupid idea, after all, )) Duo mused, biting his lip and tasting one salty tear.  
  
(( Guess not, )) agreed Michael.  
  
"He...oh, god..." The letter slid out of Wufei's hands and fluttered to the floor. He sank to his knees in utter shock, and Michael shot forward (nearly tripping over a cardboard palm tree).  
  
"Mister Chang, we'd better get you back to the sick bay," Michael said, but he had no intention of taking Wufei anywhere.  
  
"He loved me too," Wufei said, casting a sideways glance at the letter. "He loved me, but he was afraid I'd shut him out if he told me...What a fucking, fucking idiot I am."  
  
Michael said nothing, because he really had nothing intelligent to say. He just knelt down on one knee next to Wufei.  
  
"Nah, 'Fei. You're not an idiot," Duo whispered aloud, so softly that almost he couldn't hear it.  
  
"Yes I am," Wufei said, thinking it had been Michael speaking. "I caused Duo pain by forcing him to keep his feelings inside...and he died thinking I didn't care about him."  
  
A couple of salty drops plopped onto the stationery, and Michael put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"I'm so sorry, sir," he whispered, locking his sharp blue eyes with Wufei's wet chocolate ones.  
  
Wufei swallowed audibly, "Me too...and you know what the worst part of it is?" he didn't wait for Michael to answer, "It's too late to do anything about it..."  
  
"Oh, 'Fei..." Duo whispered and started into his former office. Forget Michael. Wufei was here, now, and he needed to be told that what had happened ~wasn't~ his fault---  
  
Duo was jerked backwards and something grabbed on his braid and yanked. He yelped in pain, and his braid was released. He spun around to see his attacker---  
  
"Raven?!"  
  
It looked like Raven, smirked like Raven, had the cocky stance of Raven, but it couldn't be Raven! This person was human! The lack of talons on her fingers were a dead giveaway---wait. Duo almost slapped himself on the forehead. If ~Michael~ could pass as human, why couldn't Raven pull the same trick?   
  
((Good thinking, sweetie!)) the woman thought cheerfully at him, ((Shame you're non-corporeal though.))  
  
Duo narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.  
  
((It's terrible to be the bystander!)) with a wink, she walked confidently into the office, her high heels muffled by the plush carpeting.  
  
Michael's head shot up at the intruder, "You," he snarled.  
  
Wufei looked up and felt the color drain from his face, "You," he whispered.  
  
"Captain Obvious," Raven nodded at Michael, "and his adorable side-kick," she nodded to Wufei, "I do hope you'll let me conclude my business here. The Apocalypse ~is~ coming, you know."  
  
"How the fucking hell did you get in here?" Michael was FURIOUS. Not just pissy, not just angry. He was foaming at the mouth, ready to kill something furious. She had the nerve to just stroll into this office, probably weaving some damn spell of Compulsion to get past all the armed agents...  
  
"Hell does many things, but it doesn't really 'fuck'. It's a place, it lacks the parts you need to do that sort of thing," Raven smiled quirkily. Michael wanted to rip the smirk right off her face.  
  
"Get away from him." Duo had had enough of this. Raven was not causing any more hurt for his 'Fei. "I told you I didn't want to see your face again."  
  
"You think I care?" Raven's face lost its smirk. She was all business now. "You can't stop me. All the goodness and light in the world can't stop me and The Boss. We want him --" She pointed a talon-less finger at Wufei, "--and we are going to have him."  
  
"No. You aren't," Duo stepped into the office so he was facing Raven.  
  
Finally, Wufei regained his voice. "O'Toole, get the hell out of here."  
  
"Like bloody fucking hell I am," Michael hissed. "I'm not leaving you in here alone with them!"  
  
{{You know, I think I'll save the speech about cussing until you've gotten your behind out of this mess.}}  
  
(( Nice to know that morality comes after helping your messengers saving their asses, )) muttered Michael.  
  
{{...I wouldn't put it quite that way, but something like that.}}  
  
"We're not going to spar here, are we?" Raven smiled and got into a fighting stance. "Your precious 'Fei might get hurt."  
  
"Little late for that, isn't it?" Duo growled. "If you were so worried about keeping him healthy, you're doing a pretty crappy-ass job, what with that spell that nearly kills him every time he even thinks of me..."  
  
"I had to do that. It's part of the tainting process," Raven shrugged. "I didn't want to, but I didn't write the rulebook."  
  
"No, you didn't," Duo agreed darkly, "but you're the one who follows it."  
  
"'Taint'?" Wufei repeated to himself softly. He brushed his fingertips over his lips. Is that what it had been? The seizures, the over-whelming spasms of pain...it was due to a demon taint? A demon taint?!  
  
Last week, Wufei would have scoffed at the notion. Taints were the things of folk lore and myth, not Preventer problems. But so much had happened in the past several days...so much he couldn't explain...  
  
Sally was going to flip eight ways sideways when he told her what was wrong with him.  
  
Therefore, if he had been tainted by this woman before him---obviously a demoness---maybe Duo's death hadn't been a freak accident? Maybe...maybe, maybe, maybe...it had been some sort of pre-arranged plan? Maybe this demon woman had even planned it? But why? Just to get to him? Just to get to Chang Wufei? Could the universe really be that screwed up?  
  
{{Not so much "screwed up" as "caught in a massive power struggle."}}  
  
Wufei rubbed his temples in exasperation, "Not you again," he grumbled.  
  
"Look," Raven was saying, "I work for the Boss, because I agree with Apocalypse, okay? If I had a choice, I'd keep that little truffle of a Preventer to myself...which I intend on doing, after we destroy the world and such---"  
  
"You killed him."  
  
Everyone was silent.  
  
Wufei was still by Duo's desk, Michael's hand was still on his shoulder, and the tears were still streaking Wufei's face. But his eyes, oh his lovely almond eyes were smoldering with an unsurpassed rage.  
  
"You killed him," he repeated coldly, "You killed him. You killed him! And for what! So you could get me? Is that it?! Why?" he picked up a stapler and beamed it at the human demoness. She easily blocked it, but was blinking in rapid surprise, "Answer me!!"  
  
"Well...yeah, that's about it," Raven scratched the back of her head. "We didn't actually expect Duo to be turned into an angel, but so much for the better."  
  
"He can suffer for all eternity knowing he was the cause of this."  
  
"No." Wufei stood up, shrugging away Michael's hand. "No, you're not going to cause Duo any more suffering on my account."  
  
Raven giggled. "What are you going to do? Glower at me until I die of fear?"  
  
"I'm going to rip you a new breathing hole, that's what I'm going to do," Wufei snarled. From out of some place that no one seems to know about, he whipped out a long, sharp katana. He drew his finger over the blade, noting that it was properly sharp by the tiny trickle of blood he left along its edge.  
  
"In case you've forgotten, you're a mortal. You can't touch me," Raven now turned her full attention away from Duo, who was gaping like a fish, and to her soon-to-be prize.  
  
"And in case you'd forgotten, you're also mortal right now." Before Raven could come up with a retort, Wufei sprang into the air and drove his katana straight for her chest, hoping to hit her somewhere that would cause considerable damage. Raven thought she could dodge him easy, but before she could even think about doing so, there was a sickening snap as a cold piece of metal jammed through her shoulder blade.  
  
"You killed him," Wufei's anger was so palpable, you could almost hear it humming in the air around him. "You took Duo from all of us, just so you could get to me. What a fucking cowardly onna you are."  
  
Raven stared at him, mouth wide and eyes bulging in shock. This mortal, this ordinary young man...had stabbed her. Not just stabbed her - he had run her through with his sword. She could feel the blood seeping out of her arm and down her chest, and she numbly realized that she'd better grab him while she could before her human form died.  
  
"'Fei, back off!" Duo shouted, realizing with sudden dread that Raven was about to teleport away.   
  
Wufei tried to jump back, but Raven shot out a hand and gripped it with surprising strength for a dying woman. "If I'm going back to Hell, you're coming with me, you little shit bug. I'm making you my consort whether you like it or not."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Muhahahaha.  
  
To be continued when my computer is no longer being stupid.  
  
And yes...we are evil.  
  
~AA&M 


	4. Chapter Four

"Hope  
  
Everybody needs hope  
  
A little peace of mind that they can call their own  
  
And everybody needs love, just a little trust  
  
'Cause sometimes eatin', sleepin' and breathin' just ain't enough..."  
  
"Somebody's Out There Watching" - The Kinleys  
  
Une poked experimentally at her microwavable ravioli with a plastic fork. Obviously, it had been sitting in the Preventers freezer for a bit longer than she had thought, if the freezer burn was any indication. She had thought she was saving time by not ordering out for lunch...it was just turning out to be an incredibly crappy week.  
  
Or maybe "crappy" wasn't the word she wanted. Une eyed O'Toole over the rim of her glasses. He was no longer fidgety or nervous, in fact, he stared right back down at her with a startling intensity. After hearing his report, Une was ready to turn in the paperwork and resign. This was just...bizarre.  
  
And crappy.  
  
Sally, still sitting in one of the office's cold plastic chairs, had disregarded her own ravioli and was looking at Michael with a mixed expression, "A demoness came into the office and took Wufei away," she said skeptically. From her point of view, Wufei wasn't the only one who needed to be in the infirmary.  
  
Michael nodded.  
  
Sally shook her head in mute disbelief, "How did you get hired...?" she muttered under her breath.  
  
Michael heard her anyway, "Same way you did, sweetie," he said flippantly.  
  
Une set her glasses down on her desk so she could rub at the bridge of her nose without an obstacle, "My two best agents are either dead or trapped in Hell. This stuff never happened with I was working for Treize-sama."  
  
Sally's head snapped around to her employer, "You believe him??" she asked incredulously, "Une!"  
  
"It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not," Michael folded his arms and didn't bother to look at Sally. "I've talked with a lot of disbelievers in my day, that's nothing new. I'm just here to tell you the truth and help you get Wufei back."  
  
Now he looked at Sally. "You do want him back, don't you?"  
  
"Of course we do!" she snapped at him. "But this is so bloody absurd--"  
  
"Absurd though it may be," Une interjected, "it's our only solid explanation into Wufei's mysterious illness so far."  
  
"There's got to be another reason. Stress? Mental anguish? Something!" Sally poked at her ravioli viciously with a fork. "No way I'll be that a demoness was behind it. I'm a medical professional."  
  
"Oh, right. The presence of things like science and medicine automatically cancel out the possibility of Someone Down There," Michael said snidely. "I'd forgotten."  
  
"Agent O'Toole, I realize that Major Po is unfairly dismissing your theory, but that gives you no right to speak to her in that manner," Une was dangerously close to reaching for her glasses.  
  
Michael pointed a finger at her. "With all due respect, I think we've passed the point where I need to take orders from you."  
  
Une was about to shout something very nasty at the white-haired agent, but before she had the chance, Michael started to...glow.  
  
Now look, I don't have much time to explain this," Michael said, watching the two women gape as his jacket ripped and large white wings ripped from his back and fluttered twice. "So I'll give you the sound bites version. I'm an angel, and I'm here with a message from God."  
  
Michael locked both women down in his blue gaze, "Duo Maxwell was not supposed to die," he paused a moment to let the statement sink in, "The guy down there sent a guy up here to kill him which pisses the guy waaaay up there off to no end."  
  
Une blinked. Once. Twice. Then, "...and...? Why Duo?"  
  
"He," Michael made a disgusted snort indicating just which "he" was being referred to, "wants to take over the world. He needs a buffer. And what better buffer than an emotional train-wreck called Wufei?"  
  
"And the demoness...?" Une prompted.  
  
"That's Raven. The henchman. Woman. Whatever. But her only interest isn't just taking over the world," Michael's eyes glittered dangerously, "She wants him for a consort, and she's willing to do ~anything~ to make him hers. She tainted him with a kiss, even. Mentions of Duo, just thinking about Duo, literally tears Wufei up," Michael nodded once, "Comprende?"  
  
"And you were sent under cover to keep an eye on Wufei..." Une mused thoughtfully, glasses forgotten.  
  
"Essentially, yes."  
  
"What can we do?"  
  
Sally slammed her ravioli bowl onto Une's desk, "This is insane!" she declared, "Une---!"  
  
"Sally..." Une pointed to the wings protruding from Michael's back, "I know you're not the best at the obvious..."  
  
There was a soft knock at the office door.  
  
"Michael? Do you want me to come in yet?"  
  
Sally turned in her seat to see if Une was as white as she felt. Une was even paler than she had been during her coma. Une looked...frightened? And Sally couldn't say she blamed her. After all, since when could the dead knock on the door and talk?  
  
"Yeah, come on in. I've already fucked up my cover anyway," Michael shrugged. The door creaked open, and a familiar set of amethyst eyes and chestnut bangs, with a few stray white feathers hanging over his eyes.  
  
"Um...hey, Une, Sally," he said, unsure what a formerly-mortal said to their former-boss and -confidante. "We've gotten mixed up in some pretty crazy shit, haven't we?"  
  
"I believe that counts as an understatement," Une managed to get out feebly. "Aa...how have you been?"  
  
Duo came in the rest of the way and shrugged. "As well as you could expect. I mean, my 'Fei's being ripped to bits by a maniacal demoness, and I'm an angel..."  
  
Sally couldn't get any words to form on her lips. Duo was dead, but here he was, in a lovely white suit with gorgeous white wings, talking to her...oh, this was just way out there.  
  
"I can't really stay too long. The longer we leave Raven alone with 'Fei, the longer she has to..." Duo didn't want to finish the sentence, because he didn't want to think about it. "Things are just getting out of hand."  
  
"If that doesn't count as an understatement, nothing will," Michael sighed. "Ladies, I know this is going to sound stupid, but if this could stay between the two of you...?"  
  
Une nodded, massaging her temples. "Of course. If I started telling my staff that Wufei had been kidnapped by a demoness and our new recruit is really an angel, they'd send me home and tell me to get a nice weekend of rest."  
  
"Would they now?"  
  
Once again, everyone, humans and angels alike, turned to see who the voice at the door was.  
  
Heero stood in the doorframe, a manila envelope in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. While most people in Heero's situation would at the very least look flabbergasted, he just stared into the office with his usual Heero Yuy Indifference.(tm)   
  
Michael looked ready to bash his forehead into the nearest wall. Instead, he settled for Une's solution of rubbing his temples, "Shut the door before someone else comes in," he moaned in exasperation.  
  
"Um...hi, Hee-chan..." Duo said with a feeble wave.  
  
Heero stepped into the office, and the door shut behind him with a quiet click.   
  
"I know this is going to sound stupid," Michael repeated, face still in his hands, "but if you could just keep this between the three of you...?"  
  
"What do we have to do?"  
  
Michael looked up in irritation at Heero, "You think charging down into Hell in a rescue attempt is so simple?? Just hop down, tap Raven on the shoulder, and sprint Wufei out?? Honestly---"  
  
Michael was silenced by Duo placing his hand on his shoulder, "It's Hee-chan," he said quietly, "Hee-chan can take on the universe and win."  
  
To the layman, Heero's features didn't change in the slightest. But if someone with plenty of practice under the belt...like, per say, Sally, looked, the slightest flicker of warmth, affection, and just general love flickered in Heero's cobalt eyes. Sally chewed thoughtfully on a cold, freezer-burnt, ravioli. Indeed, everyone had loved Duo, hadn't they...  
  
What do we have to do?" Heero repeated, taking a sip of the official Preventers sludge. Une was impressed; if there was one employee who could actually stomach her concoction, it would definitely be Heero.  
  
"Hee-cha~~n, don't you get involved too!" Duo whined. "First 'Fei, now you! I don't want any more people getting hurt on my account."  
  
The faintest outline of a smirk crept up Heero's face. "It's hard not to."  
  
"There might just be a way..."  
  
Everyone - well, except Michael and Duo - jumped at Smoke's unannounced entrance.  
  
"A way to do what?" Sally finally got her mouth to move. "And who are you?"  
  
"I'm Smoke, another angel, pleased to meet you." Smoke looked at Heero, the gears beginning to turn. "There might just be a way Heero can help us."  
  
"Anything," Heero said automatically. "Anything I can do."  
  
Duo groaned. "No, Smoke, don't encourage him! They have 'Fei, that's enough! We have to get him back without other people getting hurt!"  
  
"That's a lot to ask in this situation, I'm afraid," Michael said. "One way or the other, someone is going to get screwed."  
  
Duo winced and grasped for the end of his braid. Michael scratched his head sheepishly. "Sorry, Duo. Didn't mean it that way."  
  
"He could be a sort of...distraction," Smoke was obviously ignoring the both of them. "Get Raven's attention. Michael and Duo will keep an eye on them, while I free Wufei."  
  
Heero set the manila folder down on a nearby chair, and stared at a point on the floor, appearing to ponder the idea. He was good at distractions...  
  
"Please, Hee-chan, don't," Duo pleaded. No, not Heero too. Raven wasn't going to get both of them. "Please, don't do this. There's another way! I don't want you to get hurt..."  
  
"Duo," Heero said quietly, "I'm going with you. You've said it yourself; I could probably take on the universe..."  
  
"Why??" Duo scrubbed at the tears that were starting to make their way down his cheeks. It wasn't fair! He was shot, then 'Fei was gone, now Heero was going to go kamikaze yet AGAIN?? Wufei was right; there was no justice.  
  
"Because I..." Heero trailed off and was silent for a moment, groping for the right words, "...I want to," he finally settled on.   
  
Smoke nodded curtly, "Good. It's settled then-"  
  
"WaitjustaMINUTE!!!" Duo exclaimed, but was promptly ignored.  
  
"-if you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way," Smoke inclined her head towards Une and Sally.  
  
Sally continued to chew on her ravioli, at a complete loss for words. Her beloved Wufei was in Hell, Duo was an angel, and Heero had volunteered to get him back. What was one supposed to say in such circumstance?  
  
Une, ever the eloquent diplomat, found the answer, "Good luck," she said quietly, "Bring him back. And yourselves," she fixed Michael with a steely look, "I don't like losing new recruits, O'Toole."   
  
Despite himself, Michael smiled. "Yes, ma'am."  
  
Duo was Not Happy. He didn't want Heero to do this one little bit. But obviously, he was going to have no say. In a flurry of paper clips and feathers, the three angels and one suicidal Preventer faded away to the depths of Hell.  
  
"I hope they come back in one piece," Sally said softly. Une only nodded.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Can't you ever do an assignment right?"  
  
Raven would have spat at Kiran, if she wasn't leaning heavily against a black crystal and healing her mangled arm. It wasn't going nearly as fast as she had hoped, and although the outer wounds had healed, her arm wasn't going anywhere.  
  
Remember, Kiran, the only reason you're out of jail is because I got you out. I'll happily put you back in.  
  
Kiran gulped, and Raven snickered, which only made her arm hurt more. She brushed a few stringy strands of hair away with her talons to get a better view of her prize.  
  
Oh, and what a prize he looked like now.  
  
In the interest of "the larger, the better", Wufei's body had changed substantially since his arrival in Hell. His face had become longer and more chiseled, and he was quite a few inches taller. His muscles were clothed in nothing more than a tight black tank top and even tighter black leather pants. It was obvious who had gotten to choose the outfit.  
  
He was also dangling, unconscious, by his wrists from an enormous ominous iron gate, but that hadn't been Raven's idea.  
  
"How long will it be until we open the gate?" Kiran asked, looking at the intricate gate with awe.  
  
Four hours after the time he wakes up. That will be enough time for the taint to take full effect.  
  
"Until then?" Kiran found himself asking.  
  
Until then... there was a slight chuckle that chilled both of the demons, Until then, he dreams until he breaks.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Treize looked just as he last saw him.  
  
Well, no, that was technically a lie. The last time he saw Treize, Treize was a thousand tiny particles floating amongst the debris of the TallGeese II. So Treize looked like he had the next to last time he saw him. Tall, oh-so-full of himself, and smirking.  
  
"Hello, dragon," he greeted in the voice that managed to be both quiet and grating at the same time, "It's good to see you again."  
  
"Can't say the same, Khusherenada," Wufei spat. He wasn't scared. No, oh no. He didn't know where he was, he couldn't move because he was tethered to something behind him, and he was talking to a man he had killed himself, but he wasn't scared. Worried...maybe. But not scared.  
  
Treize eyed him under the fop of blonde hair falling into his face, "I've missed you dragon."  
  
Wufei sighed in bemusement, "Must I repeat myself?"  
  
"How have you been?" Treize continued as if Wufei hadn't spoken, "Besides having the love of your life killed and all?"  
  
"Considering the circumstance? I could be better."  
  
"The same could be said for me, I suppose," Treize reached out a hand to touch Wufei's beautiful face, and he jerked his neck to get away. "Still as passionate as the last time..."  
  
Wufei growled low. "Don't touch me."  
  
Treize pulled his hand away slowly. "As you wish."  
  
"As the song said, only the good die young," he said, and Wufei was unsure whether that was for his benefit or not. "'I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints; the sinners have much more fun'..."  
  
"That depends on who you ask," Wufei smirked. "Of the immortal beings I've had the pleasure of meeting, the angels seem a much cheerier disposition than the demons."  
  
"Maybe you're just meeting the wrong ones," Treize shrugged.   
  
Wufei really wanted to know why he was here...wherever "here" was. He thought he was being carried away to Hell...although maybe this was it. Being chained up and listening to Treize speak for all eternity was Hell? Wufei wouldn't put it past them.  
  
"Can we get to the point?"  
  
Treize actually looked hurt, "I thought you wouldn't mind chumming it up..."  
  
Wufei rolled his eyes, "We were never 'chummy' Treize. 'Chums' don't try to kill each other."  
  
Treize's face lit up at Wufei's last statement, "'Try'! Oh yes. 'Try'," this time, he did manage to caress Wufei's cheek, despite Wufei jerking his neck this way and that, "Oh, how you tried, little dragon. But you weren't quite good enough, were you?"  
  
Wufei froze and Treize continued petting him with his gloved hand, "No matter what you did, pretty one, it wasn't enough. You wanted to protect your colony...what happened?"  
  
Wufei's eyes narrowed into onyx slits and he yanked against his restraints, to no avail, "Fuck you," he growled in his throat, "Fuck you, Khusherenada...what do you know??"  
  
Treize paid the flails and curses absolutely no mind. The only sign that he was paying attention to Wufei was when he drew his hand back to keep from being bitten, "What don't I know, dragon?" he kissed the tips of his gloves and brushed his fingers across Wufei's lips.   
  
Wufei felt his stomach clench. This was wrong, why wouldn't Treize go away?...  
  
"Does their screaming ever haunt you?" Treize cupped Wufei's head in one hand, and the boy found that he could no longer move. Their eyes locked and no matter how hard he tried, Wufei could not look away.  
  
"Do you ever feel an ache, where Meiran used to be?" He started to lose himself; everything was going numb. Treize just smiled as he saw the fear and anger in Wufei's eyes. He lost the feeling in his hands, his legs, his chest, until finally Treize let go of his head and he flopped forward like a rag doll.  
  
"Ever miss your innocence, little dragon?"  
  
Suddenly, he was yanked from behind, and Treize disappeared into a thick blackness. He landed on a hard floor with a thunk, rolling head over heels before landing in a strange, sprawled position.  
  
"They lied to you, 'Fei."  
  
Duo's voice! Wufei tried to sit up, tried to see where it was coming from, but try as he might he couldn't move at all.  
  
"What do you mean? Who lied?" he said, more to himself than to Duo's voice.  
  
"Michael. Smoke. God. They don't want to help us; we're just pawns in an immortal power struggle. They don't want to help us. They're just going to whap the Devil on his knuckles with a ruler and give him a warning. But...they're going to take you away from me, 'Fei."  
  
Duo sounded pained, distraught. "We deserve a second chance, but they won't give it to us. Doesn't that make you angry, 'Fei?"  
  
"They lied..." Wufei whispered to himself, "No, wait! No, Duo! Duo, they didn't lie!"  
  
"'Fei, if they wanted to help us, they would've done something! Don't you think it's strange that the All-Mighty can't fix something so minor? Just a snap? 'Fei! Think about it! They're using us to stab at each other!"  
  
It made sense. Why taunt him with something he could never have, if they weren't just using him? Gods. Even the Divine wanted to use him. Master O just wanted to use him to pilot that Gundam. Une just wanted to use him as a Preventer. Chang Wufei, the universal appliance, that was him!  
  
It wasn't fair.  
  
He had done everything to the best of his ability, and he STILL wasn't good enough?? What more did they want of him? His will? His SOUL??   
  
His soul...  
  
"Don't let them get away with this, 'Fei," Duo's voice pleaded, "Please don't let them get away with this..."  
  
Everyone just wanted to use him in their own petty power struggles. No one cared about Wufei, or how Wufei may have felt! Them, them, them!! And the one time, the one bloody time he had wanted something for his own, it had been ripped from him. He wouldn't stand for this. He couldn't stand for this.  
  
But something kept holding him back...  
  
"Don't you want happiness, 'Fei?"  
  
That did it. Wufei let out an inhuman scream, flying off the ground without any effort to do so. The dreamscape shattered, and so did he.  
  
At the same time, the real Wufei stirred. His eyes shot open quickly, revealing that they were no longer chocolate brown, but a very violent shade of red. He stared blankly at the ground below him, where Raven was grinning and Kiran was gasping like a fish out of water.  
  
"Did you hear that scream? Amazing," Kiran whispered, running a hand through his hair and holding his head in it. "He's totally ours now."  
  
Raven let out a triumphant laugh. "I did it! I did it! We have our chance!"  
  
Raven...if there's anything left of him when we finish, I suppose, if you wanted...you could have him. I mean, I don't need any more demons, and he's been so much of a headache...  
  
Raven couldn't believe it - The Boss was giving her something? That was new. But it was just what she wanted, and although she knew there would be consequences, she didn't care.  
  
"Thank you, sir," she said, grinning even wider - now the smile went up to her eyes. Maxwell may have been the God of Death, but she was victorious. And ooh, pardon the pun, but there was hell to pay. Both of them---Maxwell and her pretty Wufei---were in for it.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Getting into Hell was not as easy as it was made out to be. Especially when one wasn't invited.  
  
First of all, there were physical barriers. Doors, gates, spikes, tar pits, cesspools...but nothing unusual. Each were easily averted for the small party of angels and kamikaze human. It was the other barriers---the ones that couldn't be seen---that caused the problems. Those, and the fact that Smoke had gotten them lost. Hopelessly and irrevocably lost.  
  
The quartet stood inside a small cave literally in the middle of nowhere, while Smoke consulted the map that had been generously provided.  
  
"Nice going, Smoke," Michael muttered, obviously beyond irate, "We got lost in a straight line DOWN!"  
  
"Shut up," she muttered, and flipped her map upside-down in the hopes that it would make more sense, "Just shut up. If you're so smart, YOU should've been the navigator."  
  
Duo idly plucked a loose feather from his wing, "'Fei's about to die horribly, and they're fighting," he murmured, "And they're not fighting the guy they should be fighting!" It wasn't fair. After everything that had happened, he was going to lose his 'Fei anyways, because his guardians were too stubborn and frustrated to work together!  
  
"Look, can you argue like a married couple later?" Heero snapped. "Right now, Wufei is probably Justice-loving toast."  
  
He snatched the map away from Smoke, and began to study it carefully.  
  
Smoke sighed irritably. "Look, Heero, that's a very nice gesture, but the whole thing is written in ancient Hebrew, and--"  
  
"We go that way." Heero turned Michael's wrist so his torch was pointing toward a craggy road below them and to the left. Far off at the end of the road, there seemed to be a large black gate, with a lone figured dangling from its highest point.  
  
"Ohhh...fuck," Duo remarked, staring at the ominous sight and trying so very hard not to wet himself. This was it, now was his chance to save 'Fei.  
  
Duly noted," Michael swallowed. There it was - The Gate. Behind that monstrosity, thousands and thousands of years of negative energy was pulsing and writhing, waiting to be let out.  
  
"Looks like we arrived just in time," Heero said. "What's our plan?"  
  
Smoke and Michael exchanged looks.  
  
"You have a plan, right?" Michael asked hurriedly, at the same time Smoke said, "You know what the plan is, don't you?"  
  
Heero sighed exasperatedly. "Great. Maybe I should just run down there and give the demoness a wedgie?"  
  
Duo suddenly coughed very loudly, and Smoke resisted the urge to snigger.  
  
"Not unless you want to die really, really fast," Michael said. "One look and she'll make you tomorrow's dinner for Cerberus."  
  
The cave floor shook as a low rumble passed through, reminding everyone assembled of just how much time they didn't have. Heero sighed again, and yoinked Michael's torch from his hand, "I have an idea," he declared as he started to march determinedly for the Gate, "Wait until you see the opening."  
  
"Opening? What?" Duo's eyes widened and he took a step forward, "Hee-chan, what are you planning?"  
  
Heero paused and turned. Duo could've sworn he saw a slight smirk playing across Heero's features. But that couldn't be. This was Heero!  
  
"Duo...do you remember that contest Une and Sally organized a few months ago?" he asked.  
  
Duo's brow crinkled in confusion, "The Preventers Bishounen Choice Awards?" he blinked rapidly, "Yeah, I remember...you won Spandex God of the Century. So?"  
  
Heero was definitely smirking now. The torchlight was giving his features an eerie glow, almost making the smirk seem slightly...devilish, "You think a mere demoness can stand up to the Spandex God?" he didn't wait for an answer. Rather he turned and jogged down the cave, on the way to the Gate.  
  
The three angels gaped at his back.  
  
"Spandex...god...?" Michael croaked and then turned to face Duo, "What kind of job did I get myself into?"  
  
Smoke spoke before Duo could, "I want in on that action," she declared, "Oh, do I want in..."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Koi, please. Turn that off."  
  
Quatre either didn't hear his lover or didn't care, because he made no move to change the channel. His eyes, still red-rimmed and sticky with salt, were glued to CNN, watching yet another press briefing. Sure, he knew all the facts, but he was just masochistic enough to have them mercilessly pelted at his head over and over and over.  
  
"Koi. Turn. It. Off." Trowa's hand on his shoulder startled him and he jumped away, as a look of worry and hurt flashed quickly over Trowa's face.  
  
"You're hurting yourself," Trowa continued, nuzzling into his smaller companion. "I don't like it when you take burdens upon yourself like this."  
  
Quatre let out a noise that was part whimper, part sigh. "I know, Trowa, but I can't help it. Now Wufei's missing too..."  
  
Trowa hugged him tighter, and Quatre was so close he could inhale the scent of spices and shampoo and mothballs. "This too will pass, koi."  
  
Quatre could only nod in agreement.  
  
"How about I make you a snack?" Trowa offered quietly, "Cookies? Tea? Sandwich?"  
  
That prompted a groan and a shudder, "Trowa, I love you but..."  
  
"I can't make a sandwich to save my life," Trowa finished with a slight grin. He gave Quatre's forehead a small kiss before he started to pull away, "Cookies, then?" Quatre gave a mute nod, "Okay."   
  
Trowa stood up and stretched. Cookies. Nothing could cheer up a depressed Quatre like cookies. Actually, there were other things---Trowa clamped down on that thought before it progressed. Cookies. He would stay focused on the cookies.  
  
"...Trowa..."  
  
Quatre was clutching at his shirt, breathing heavily. The color had fled his face, but his eyes were still red from crying, giving him a feverish look. And he was shaking---shaking so hard that Trowa was convinced he was going to tumble off the couch.   
  
Trowa spun on his heels and came back to the couch. He put one hand on Quatre's back, to steady him, and the other hand on his lover's clenched hands and wad of shirt.  
  
"What's wrong, Quatre?" he asked softly, although he knew already what it was. Stress had finally caught up with him, giving his chest yet another reason to cramp on him...  
  
"It's so dark..." Quatre's eyes began to lose focus, glassy blue orbs looking past Trowa and past the TV to a spot he couldn't place. "Hard to breathe. All he wanted was happiness..."  
  
"Quatre!" Trowa knew he had to get to a phone and call Sally, but it was in the other room and he wouldn't dare leave Quatre. "Koi, what are you talking about?"  
  
If it was possible, Quatre began to shake harder as he began to cry again in soft, whimpering sobs. "They took Duo from him, and now they have him too. And Heero...Heero's going to, oh God, no..."  
  
Trowa patted Quatre firmly on his back, to knock him out of his shocked state. "Koi, come on, snap out of it..."  
  
Who is this 'they' he's talking about?, Trowa wondered. And what's happening to Heero? I hate when this happens, he's in so much pain...  
  
Quatre looked up at Trowa, but Trowa didn't believe that he was what was being looked at. Quatre was staring at something else. Something beyond Trowa.  
  
Icy hands clamped down on his shoulder with a surprising strength. Trowa had no doubt that his shoulders would be peppered with small, oval bruises in the morning. It didn't matter. He had to get through to Quatre and snap him out of his trance...  
  
"She's going to kill him..." Quatre whispered harshly, "She's going to ravage him and kill him...both of them..."   
  
"Quatre," Trowa said firmly, giving his lover a slight shake, "Who?"  
  
Quatre stared at him with his glassy eyes, "Raven," he said simply and fell forward.  
  
Fortunately, Trowa had been holding onto him and had saved Quatre from a face full of floor. Quatre was still hyperventilating, even unconscious, nor had his color returned. His eyes were scrunched shut and he was still shaking violently. Trowa couldn't wait. He had to get to Sally.   
  
He carefully laid Quatre down on the couch, giving his lips a quick kiss. He tried to ignore the fact that they were getting cold. As fast as his long legs could carry him, he sped to the kitchen and hastily dialed the number of Sally Po's Preventers office.  
  
"Preventers infirmary, Sally Po speaking. How can I help you?" The voice at the other end of the line was obviously strained and stressed.  
  
"I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now," Trowa said, tucking the portable phone under his ear, "but Quatre is having a Spaceheart thing."  
  
The noise Sally made sounded like a "GRAH!" as she slammed down papers.  
  
"I'm sorry?" he added lamely, though he wasn't quite sure what he was sorry for.  
  
"First, Duo is dead. Then Michael turns out to be an mrphgle--" the word was mumbled as Sally shifted the phone, "and then Wufei is kidnapped by Raven and by God what the fuck am I supposed to in a situation like this, at least in the war there weren't--"  
  
"Did you just say 'Raven'?" Trowa felt his stomach drop to his knees.  
  
On the other end of the line, he could almost hear Sally blink.  
  
"Uhhhmm...why?" Sally cursed to herself. Damnitall, so much for keeping it between the three of them...  
  
"Wellll...Quatre said something about a raven killing Wufei..." Trowa said somewhat lamely as he tried to envision a small black bird pecking Wufei to death. It made for an amusing spectacle, but a small niggling feeling told Trowa that his vision was not the raven being referred to.  
  
"For crying out loud---!" the voice in the background was muffled, but Trowa recognized it as Une's. There was the sound of what seemed to be a scuffle for control of the phone, and then Sally was replaced by his employer, "Hello?" she snapped irritably.  
  
"Une-sama..." Trowa started, not quite sure what he was going to say after that.  
  
"Barton??"  
  
"Give me that! Quatre--!" there were more scuffling noises, but the phone seemed to remain in Une's control.  
  
"My building, my phone!" Une harrumphed for good measure, "Now, Barton, what do you want? We're in a bit of a crisis-"  
  
"Quatre knows about Raven!" Sally's disembodied voice said.  
  
Trowa could just imagine Lady Une's expression. Her eyes would widen under her glasses (considering how cranky she sounded, she probably had her glasses on), her lower jaw would fall down ever so slightly---"HOW??" she screeched. Trowa winced and held the phone away from his ear. Next time there was a medical emergency, he was using the Vid-Phone...  
  
"Spaceheart-"  
  
That was all Une seemingly needed to here, "Barton!" she snapped into the phone, "Stuff Quatre into that cute little Jeep of yours and bring him down to headquarters. We'll fill you in when we get there!"  
  
The phone went dead.  
  
Trowa stared at it for a minute before hitting the "off" button, "Quatre's Spaceheart is acting up," he muttered to himself as he dug his keys from the pockets of his jeans, "Could Sally please take a look? She can? Oh, thank you..." he sulked out of the kitchen.  
  
He returned to the living room without a moment to spare. The TV was still on, a rather unflattering picture of Wufei being shown blown up to fit the screen. Quatre was barely on the couch, writhing in agony that Trowa could only begin to not comprehend.  
  
"Shit," he said conversationally, and scooped up Quatre. He stalked toward the door, slipped on the nearest pair of "things that could count as footwear" (his slippers), and nudged the doorknob with his elbow until it finally opened. Snatching his car keys off the rack with his teeth, he kicked the door shut with his foot and dashed away.  
  
"Iz jush going to be one of doze daysh," he decided, and opened the passenger-side door of his "cute little Jeep" as he chewed on his keys.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The Spandex God was realizing that, bishie though he may be, he didn't have a plan. Of all the times to lack a plan, this was a really bad one.  
  
He was hiding behind a seven-foot crystal, his torch long extinguished for fear of drawing attention. There was enough...well, it wasn't exactly light...visibility, perhaps, that he could see the demoness and her companion well enough. Some considerable damage had been done to the region around her arm, and he presumed Wufei was the culprit, because it was just the sort of mangled state that his prized katana could inflict.   
  
Raven ran her talons through her thick, black tresses of hair and stared up admiringly at her handiwork. To think, this beautiful, lovely, and exotic boy was going to be hers for the taking in less than an hour! Justice was a wonderful thing. Raven sighed in contentment---  
  
---which lasted for another three seconds as Kiran sidled up next to her, "There's a human just over yonder," he whispered hoarsely in her ear.  
  
Raven resisted the urge to slap him. Did he think she was so dense that she wouldn't notice an unauthorized presence?? She just had better things to think about! She eyed Wufei again and wet her lips. Much, much better things to think about. And if she had much, much better things to think about, she had much, much better things to do. Humans were so squicky!  
  
"Take care of him," she said in a normal tone, "No, wait," she held up a hand, "You'll screw up."  
  
"I will not!" Kiran huffed indignantly, "Unlike some of us, I complete my assignments ON TIME."  
  
"You lack class," with a flick of her wrist, the crystal that Heero had been hiding behind shattered. Raven blinked in surprise. She hadn't been expecting him! Two pretty mortal boys in Hell? She grinned viciously.  
  
Heero fell back into a defensive stance at the loss of his cover, "Let him go," he growled lowly and nodded his head at the trussed up and leather-clad Wufei.  
  
"Or...?" Raven prompted and flicked her wrist again. Heero let out a very uncharacteristic yelp as what felt like an invisible collar ensnared his throat.  
  
"Or..." Heero wished he had a plan. "Or you'll have the wrath of Spandex God on your nasty little head."  
  
Raven raised an eyebrow; the collar tightened and Heero coughed. He reached up to pry it loose, whatever "it" was, but yelped again and let go as he got a not-so-nice electric shock.  
  
Hee-chan...be careful... Heero nearly jumped a foot in the air as Duo's voice rang crisp and clear in his head. Raven's sick, and she won't stop at anything to get what she wants, especially when she wants...you know...   
  
Heero gulped. He'd wondered what that gleam in her eye was.  
  
Michael huffed impatiently. Are you just going to stand there? I thought you had a plan.   
  
"Ooh, you scare me, bishie," Raven mocked, yanking an invisible chain. Somehow, Heero managed to stay standing, although he did scoot quite a bit forward.  
  
I thought I had a plan, too, Heero sighed. I wonder where it went.   
  
"Now, I wonder what we do with you..." One of Raven's arms still hung rather limp from her side, and her shirt was a yicky mess.   
  
"Who fucked up your arm?" Heero wheezed conversationally. "Looks like you were run clean through."  
  
Kiran winced as whatever was around Heero's throat constricted even more, eliciting a very un-Heero-like "yurk!". Raven's eyes were nothing but tiny slits, and if she had known the spell for calling up a scary glowing aura, Kiran was pretty sure she'd be glowing. He shook his head. It must be hard being constantly reminded that your new toy hated you with every fiber of his being and wanted to run you through multiple times with sharp, pointy objects.   
  
As quickly as her tantrum had come, it faded. Raven smiled broadly and loosened the collar just enough to allow Heero to breathe, "Look up, Spandex God," she said with a nice, mocking tone, "See what's left of your Wufei?"  
  
Heero looked up. Besides from his change in apparel, Wufei seemed...darker. No, "darker" wasn't the word he was looking for...  
  
Broken.  
  
Heero wasn't gifted with Quatre's Spaceheart or Duo's knack for reading people, but he knew a broken heart when he saw one. Wufei's red eyes stared blankly back down at him, and Heero Yuy, the Perfect Soldier, felt a chill run down his spine. The being of Chang Wufei...his essence, his very soul...had simply shattered.  
  
And it was all making sense to him now.  
  
Duo had never been the target of this plot at all! The whole fiasco...the murder, the seizures...was all part of some plan to break Wufei.   
  
Mr. Owl...instead of telling me how many licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop, why don't you tell me how many hits it takes to destroy the spirit of the solitary survivor of L5? some insane voice inside of Heero asked politely.  
  
This wasn't fair.   
  
"You're going to turn him into the world's largest nightlight?" Heero asked coyly, "Make a bundle on the fangirl market, I guarantee you that."   
  
"Fangirls? Puh-leeze," Raven rolled her eyes. "First off, no one lays a hand on him but me. He said so."  
  
"He?"  
  
Raven ignored him. "Second, we've got bigger plans for him. This is the chance we've been waiting for."  
  
Feeling, for a moment, generous, she dropped the collar. Heero rubbed his throat gingerly; it was turning a very nice shade of purple.  
  
"And who gave you the right to use Wufei as property?" he said, smirking nastily. "Or did you skip the formality and go straight for that romantic first impaling?"  
  
"He'd made a cute nightlight," mused Kiran, from his safe hiding place behind a dead tree. He winced as Raven screeched in anger and lashed out at Heero. Something akin to a sonic boom slammed into him full force, and he went skidding into the dirt.  
  
Heero! Duo wailed, but Heero grunted and stood up shakily, indicating that he was fine. Well, sort of.  
  
I'm fine, Heero lied, gritting his teeth. How's Smoke doing?   
  
Oh, just peachy dandy, Smoke drawled sarcastically. It helps that Wufei is only dangling seventy feet above my head, and I can't exactly hover that far up.   
  
"Did you ever think that maybe Wufei doesn't want you?" Heero reached around feebly for something like a weapon, but found nothing. "That maybe he wants someone else?"  
  
"I don't care what he wants," Raven snapped. "All that matters is what I want. And I want him."  
  
"So you killed Duo to do it?" Heero shook his head. "What a fucking cowardly onna you are."  
  
Raven did not like being called a "fucking cowardly onna" twice in one day.  
  
"There are people who loved Duo," Heero continued, "and you took him away from them. You took him away from me."  
  
Heero suddenly felt very, very angry. All the emotion he'd been keeping in since the funeral began to gnaw away at his insides.  
  
"And all that just to get to Wufei. So you could have a kinky playmate." Heero was seeing red. "It's no wonder men don't like you."  
  
It's a well known fact that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Not only had Raven been scorned, but mocked, degraded, insulted, and impaled. And, as an added bonus, she was from Hell, as well. And she was ~furious.~  
  
Heero...well, Heero could be quite scary when angry. There were OZ soldiers who could attest to that, had they still been alive. But first of all, Heero had had a Gundam with a buster rifle. Or at the very least, something capable of producing an impressive explosion. Right now, he was in Mere Mortal Heero Mode, spatting with a peeved demoness. And the only thing that hung in the balance was the entire world.  
  
That, and Duo's happiness.  
  
And, as insane as it sounded, Heero cared much, much, much more for Duo's happiness than the fate of the world.  
  
He didn't see Raven's energy blast, but he knew it was coming. He didn't even feel it as it enveloped and promptly fried him into a nice crisp. He didn't care. He smiled toothily up at Raven from the crumpled heap he was in, "You'll never have him," he informed her with an insanely perky voice that shouldn't have been coming from such a mangled form.  
  
Raven's second blast was even more powerful than the first.  
  
"You'll lose," he informed again, noting all the little places where he was bleeding. And the big places. But he was still smiling. He was burned, he was mangled, and he was probably dying...but he was going to die with style. It was the Heero Yuy way to go.  
  
"And you want to know why you'll lose?"  
  
Raven thought about frying him again. "Why?" she said mockingly.  
  
"Because you're easily distracted." 


	5. Chapter Five

"Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow."   
  
--Aesop  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Turn.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.   
  
Step...  
  
Michael rubbed blearily at his eyes as watching Duo pace was beginning to make his head hurt. Michael had thought about pacing during The Wait...the Wait in which Heero would probably screw himself over and Smoke would go about, saving Wufei...but Duo had beaten him to the pacing punch. Duo took carefully measured steps, and always snapped about when turning around. His efficiency would have been impressive had it been utilized in something OTHER than pacing.  
  
"Quit," Michael groaned.   
  
Duo ignored him, "Hee-chan's in trouble..." he kept muttering to himself as he paced, "Everyone's suffering because of me..."  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
Step.  
  
"Why are they doing this?" Duo mused, "Why is this all for me?"  
  
"Love," Michael grumbled, "You should count yourself fortunate, really. There are many people out there who never have one person to love them, let alone two."  
  
Or rather, that's what Michael ~intended~ to grumble. What he intended and all thoughts of grumbling quickly flew from his mind and he sat up ram-rod straight.   
  
"Oh my God," he whispered. All that power...to be hit by all that power...TWICE...  
  
Duo's face had paled, "Hee-chan..."  
  
Grr.   
  
Michael didn't bat an eye at the new voice in his head. He was too busy trying to figure out where his stomach went.  
  
When this is over with...I'm going to have a heap of paperwork, aren't I?   
  
"Uh huh." Michael didn't like this one bit. He wanted to stomp Raven like the gooshy little bug she was. But he had to stay here, if she caught him...with anger like that, with POWER like that, and the Gate creaking open...  
  
Someone needs to go down there. Now. Smoke isn't getting anywhere with this...   
  
Before Michael could agree, Duo was gone in a smattering of feathers and paperclips. He sighed and disappeared in similar fashion, hoping that he could help Smoke.  
  
Raven sighed. She hadn't wanted to kill the boy...he was so cute. It would have been fun to play around with him a bit. But not only had he crossed the line, he'd spit on it, too.  
  
"Heero!"  
  
Heero tried to shift his neck (or the muscles and nerves that had once been something like a neck), but couldn't get it to obey. So he just lay there, grinning still at his success. His last great mission, he supposed.  
  
Duo fluttered down out of nowhere, stumbling on a rock and coming face to face with Heero's broken body.  
  
"Heero, why? You promised..." Duo sniffled miserably. "You promised you wouldn't get hurt!"  
  
Funny. It hurt more to be blown up by a Gundam than it did to be blasted apart by a demoness. How utterly fascinating. Maybe he'd tell Trowa...or something like that. Mission complete. Finally. The mission was comp---wait, wait. No, it wasn't. One thing left to do.  
  
"I fed your cat for you," Heero whispered hoarsely.  
  
Duo's eyes widened considerably and he tried a shaky smile, "You fed Mewser for me?"  
  
"Mewser?" Heero chuckled softly, "That sounds like a name you'd choose..."  
  
Duo kneeled down in the dirt, scrubbing furiously at his eyes, "Why did you do this?" he asked as he scooped up what was left of Heero into his arms, "I didn't want anyone else to be hurt..."  
  
For a wild moment, Heero wondered what Une would put in his obituary. Somehow, "charbroiled in Hell" just didn't sound too much like her...  
  
Thoughts that make no sense, Heero mused, You're dying all right. Make it good.  
  
"Duo..." Heero croaked. His voice was now so cracked and roughed and...quiet...that Duo had to lean forward to hear him. His braid tumbled over his shoulder to hang limply, the tip tickling Heero's neck, "I loved you..."   
  
Duo's breath hitched in the back of his neck. "You...loved me?" As if the words didn't sink in. Especially loved. Not in the present tense. "Don't talk like you're already dead, Hee-chan..."  
  
"I knew you loved Wufei..." Heero continued, pausing to cough up whatever was left of a lung. "So I didn't tell you. I knew it would make you feel guilty because you couldn't love me back..."  
  
"You kept that to yourself all this time?" Duo's braid swung a bit as he pulled Heero closer.   
  
"I had to." Heero smirked. "What would our friends think if they found out the Perfect Soldier was weak enough to have unrequited love?"  
  
"They wouldn't have thought any less of you!" Duo sobbed. "They...you're only human, Hee-chan."  
  
Heero's vision began to blur; Duo became a glowing blob of flesh and brown. He had to finish this; Wufei was more important. He needed to get Duo's attention off of him and on the person who needed it. Who deserved it.  
  
"Don't cry for me, Duo," he said feebly, reaching up a shaky hand to touch Duo's face where he assumed tears would be. His fingers felt something wet; he knew it. "Please. I'm not worth it."  
  
"Don't ever say that!" Duo clutched Heero tighter. "It's not true, Heero! You are worth it!"  
  
Slowly, Heero began to get numb. His arms, his legs, his chest...all of the pain seemed to drain out of him. He was warm. And as badly as he wanted to stay with Duo, make his hurt go away, he was being drawn elsewhere.  
  
He had to hurry.  
  
"Duo...don't waste your chance..." It was so much harder to breathe. Strange, how he had never noticed something like that before. Maybe if he just stopped, he'd have enough strength left to complete his mission, "Don't...waste the gift...of the Spandex God..."  
  
Duo squeaked pitifully and burrowed his face into the mess of what had been the crook of Heero's neck and shoulder, "Working for Une has given you an ego..." he muttered miserably, "Please, Hee-chan..."  
  
"Save your love..." Heero murmured as he felt himself slipping away, "And be happy..."  
  
Heero slipped. Duo's blur, the grit of the sand beneath him, the sensation of being the world's largest charbroiled steak simply faded to black and Heero Yuy was just...falling. Not a fast fall or a steep fall or any kind of fall he could think of. Just falling. And from everywhere and yet nowhere came a voice:  
  
Don't expect me to turn you into an angel as well. I've got enough paperwork here.  
  
"I don't deserve it," he repeated softly, and then everything seemed to settle. And in a blink, Heero Yuy was gone.  
  
Michael, with Smoke on his shoulders, suddenly faltered and winced.  
  
"Bloody shit," he growled. "Raven killed him. We're never going to hear the end of that one..."  
  
"Look, I know you're mad--STEADY, you moron!" Smoke wobbled as Michael's hovering altitude dipped. "But swearing won't make it better."  
  
"At this point, anything makes this situation better," Michael huffed. "How are you doing?"  
  
"I'd be better if I had a lock pick or a large knife, but this is working," Smoke grunted, slicing through the bonds on Wufei's wrists. He continued to stare blankly at the terrain below, no longer fiery and brave and full of justice. He was just...well, he just was.  
  
As cliché as it was, he was a shell of his former self.  
  
Just as Smoke heard part of the binding rip, the Gate creaked open ever so slightly. You could not tell by looking; only by the grating, creaking sound could you assume it had moved at all. But it was enough - a hiss, and Smoke was roughly jostled by a blast of darkness. Pure, unharnessed darkness.   
  
It snapped at Smoke like an untamed viper and she screeched, falling about ten feet as she was wrenched out of Michael's grip. There was a sickening crunch as she hit the ground - fortunately, being immortal, it healed fast and she was back on her feet.  
  
Michael immediately dropped to the ground with a flutter of cloth and feathers. He immediately began to stress. "Are you okay?! Is anything broken?! Should I get help?!"  
  
Yes, no, and no," Smoke swatted him on the head. "Stop being such a worrier."  
  
"You crunched. That's usually not a good sound," Michael pointed out.  
  
Smoke sighed. "Okay. But I'm fine. Right now, we need to be more concerned with the fact that the Gate is now open. Sort of."  
  
"You can be concerned all you want, dearies," an all-too familiar, all-too sultry, and all-too unwelcome voice said from behind them, "But once it's started, it can't be stopped."  
  
"Raven," Smoke grumbled.  
  
The demoness gave a slight curtsy at her name.  
  
"Just once, I'd like to have a bad day without you," Smoke pulled herself to her feet and gave her wings a good, fierce shake.   
  
Raven laughed lightly behind her talons. From behind another large crystal, Kiran peeked out and swallowed. Raven had lost it, that much he was sure of. All that power she had used...just to destroy a mere human! It was insane! She could've cooked him at a third of the power level she had used! But no...the Boss had promised her Wufei, and she was smitten. And Raven was not going to let anything, ANYTHING, take Wufei away from her.  
  
Hail and farewell, Heero Yuy.  
  
But Heero had been a mortal. Heero hadn't been in love with Wufei.  
  
Kiran swallowed again and ducked behind the crystal. He wasn't a coward! No! Not by any stretch of the word! He was simply...overly-interested in his self-preservation.  
  
Kiran...  
  
Kiran winced. So much for that line of thought.  
  
I have a job for you...  
  
Kiran gulped. No no, not now. Being anywhere but behind this crystal could mean an untimely evaporation --  
  
That is not a QUESTION, you imbecile!  
  
"Yessir!" he whimpered. This was definitely not his day.  
  
"Why? Why did you kill Heero?"  
  
Raven shrugged, not bothering to even flick a glance in Duo's direction. "He pissed me off."  
  
Michael's stomach sunk. Heero was dead. Crap, Une was going to be upset...Two of her best agents dead, and a third about to wipe out the human race. He wondered what would be most appropriate way to break it to her...  
  
"I can't believe you," Duo snarled, looking like a wild animal who'd been near-roadkill one too many times. "You kill me, you hurt my 'Fei again and again, you...you BREAK him, and now you kill Hee-chan."  
  
"Look, it's all in the interest of the goal. The end justifies the means," Raven explained.  
  
"No. Nothing justifies your end," Smoke interrupted. "You're killing innocent people just so you can have a plaything and ruin life as we know it."  
  
Raven sighed. "I'm a demoness. That's what I do."  
  
The Gate creaked open another half an inch. Before the angels could brace themselves, another tentacle of darkness lashed out and sent Michael and Smoke flying, slamming into a crystal and shattering it.  
  
"I'll never forgive you." Raven finally turned around to look at Duo. "I'll never forgive you for what you've done to the people I love."  
  
"What can you do?" Raven smiled nastily. "The Gate is open. Pretty soon, Wufei will start absorbing its energy and spreading it."  
  
In the collective memory of the universe, there was one constant that had always remained: Duo Maxwell did not get angry. Oh he got irked, irritated, ticked, pissed, indignant, aggravated, exasperated, incensed, vexed, and all other kinds of wonderfully negative emotions, but never angry. Surely he had led a life that would justify an occasional bout of anger, but nope. Duo Maxwell could let an insult slide over him like water on the duck's back. And hey, he HAD been a Gundam pilot and all. He didn't need to get angry.  
  
But now...now...  
  
He. Was. Furious.  
  
If Raven had had an iota of sense outside of acquiring Wufei, she would've been frightened. As it was, she felt nothing but cocky. She smirked at Duo's enraged expression and nibbled on a talon, "What are you going to do, little one?" she taunted casually, "I hope you're more effective than your little Spandex God was---"  
  
Raven careened into another crystal pillar, shattering it. She sat up amongst the shards and ruins, blinking in absolute surprise, "What the fuck...?" she managed to croak.  
  
Sprawled by their own ruined crystal, Michael and Smoke were also furiously blinking...whether from the after-image from Duo's flash of power or just shock, they weren't quite sure.  
  
"I'm going to kill you," Duo snarled through clenched teeth and stepped a bit closer to Raven.  
  
Despite having felt the blast first-hand, Raven kept a wry grin on her face, "I'm immortal, good sir," she reminded him snidely.  
  
Duo smiled a smile of his own, "I don't care."  
  
"Is this a good time to say 'uh-oh'?" Smoke asked, accepting Michael's hand for assistance up.  
  
NOW would be a good time, Kiran. The Boss was impatient. Kiran sighed; fine, he would do as he was told. If Raven was going to turn into a crisp, he wasn't going to go down with her.  
  
Michael and Smoke made a move to help Duo - cast a spell, jump on Raven, whatever it took - but they didn't get the chance. Suddenly, there was a red blur in their faces.  
  
"Hey, I hate to interrupt," Kiran cracked his knuckles, "but I can't let you get in the way."  
  
Michael got into a fighting stance. "Oh, you can't?"  
  
Kiran shrugged. "Nothing personal. It's just my job."  
  
"Are you people programmed to say that?" Smoke said, before putting her arm out, fist clenched except for two fingers. "Blindness!"  
  
Kiran raised his own hand with all his fingers outstretched...and /caught/ the spell. He literally reached out and plucked Smoke's magic straight from the air.  
  
Smoke and Michael gaped dumbly.  
  
Kiran gave them a smirk that was completely void of the whinny, cowardly, and pathetic demon they had taken him to be.  
  
And then he threw the spell right back at them.  
  
It was an insane notion, really. After all, how could one simply pluck and throw something intangible like magic? But, insane or not, there was the fact that he had done it...as Smoke soon realized as her own spell smacked into her face.  
  
She fell with a shriek, her hands pressed tightly against her eyelids.  
  
"Smoke??" Michael kneeled down next to her; to do what, he wasn't quite sure.  
  
"Hurts..." she moaned feebly.  
  
Kiran sighed dramatically and shook his head. From her vantage point of on the ground, Raven could just /stare/. Kiran...could...Kiran...Kiran...had a USE?? Kiran, with the common sense of per say, a goldfish...KIRAN could do...do...THAT??   
  
Everything has a use, dear girl.  
  
Duo was staring at the downed pair over his shoulder, his amethyst eyes wide with shock. Raven took the opportunity to scramble up to her feet to prepare a better defense. She wasn't afraid of him, no. She just wanted to give her enemy the satisfaction that she had killed him as an almost equal, and not on her knees.   
  
"Michael...?" Duo ventured.  
  
Michael stood slowly, glaring blue fire at Kiran, "I can handle him," he said darkly, "Get the bitch, get Wufei, and get out of here."  
  
"But..." Duo knew he should do what he was told. But he didn't want to leave Michael and Smoke, not like this.  
  
"Just do it!" Michael snapped. "I'll do what I can, but you have to save Wufei! Make sure that Heero's death wasn't a waste!"  
  
Heero. Suddenly, all of Duo's anger was back. Raven had broken Wufei, and turned Heero into a burnt mess. This poor excuse for a demoness wasn't going to get away.  
  
He let out a wordless scream, and lashed out with one hand. Blue lightning, red thunder, the heart of Duo's anger slammed into Raven. It set her clothes aflame and burned her skin, but she stood her ground.  
  
Slowly, the Gate creaked open further. Wufei dangled precariously as his partially broken bonds ripped further. There was a shredding sound, and the bonds gave way.  
  
Wufei didn't seem to notice or care as he plummeted to the craggy ground below.  
  
"'FEI!" Duo felt something sharp and hard slam into his back - Raven had tried to throw a large chunk of shattered crystal - but he didn't care. With a giant leap and arms outstretched, he caught Wufei's limp body before it hit the ground.  
  
"'Fei..." Duo whimpered. His body had changed, probably Raven's doing. He couldn't even find comfort in Wufei's beautiful eyes; they were bloody red and didn't suit him anymore.   
  
Wufei still stared ahead blankly, seemingly unmoved by Duo's pitiful voice or tears. But slowly his lips moved and a little whisper came out. "Duo...I wanted to be happy..."  
  
Those words broke Duo's heart.  
  
"I'm sorry," Duo said, cradling Wufei to him. "I can't ever make it up to you, but I can get you out alive."  
  
"No!" Duo turned back around at the inhuman snarl. Raven stood, burnt and smoking, but still standing and still looking plenty angry, "He's MINE!" she proclaimed before firing a burst of power at Duo in the similar way she had charbroiled Heero.  
  
Duo squashed Wufei up against his chest and allowed his wings to expand to their full length, "Shields," he whispered, hoping it would do something.  
  
Raven's energy blast crackled against an invisible barrier and harmlessly dissipated.   
  
"You can't have him!" she screamed at Duo's back. She fired again, but with the same effect. "I won't let you take him!"  
  
"He was never yours in the first place, woman!" Duo spat back.  
  
He's mine.  
  
All the combatants froze as the booming bass of a voice thundered throughout the cavern. The Boss had actually decided to intervene in a little bit of cosmic powerplay? Or at the very least, play referee to some lackies firefight?   
  
Raven felt what small twinges of sanity she had left slipping, "No!" she screamed up at the cavern's ceiling, "No, you said! You promised him to me! You did!"  
  
After all this time, you still believe I keep my promises.  
  
"No!" Raven couldn't believe it. She'd worked so hard, she'd gone up to the filthy surface to GET him, got skewered, had angels follow her down, was mocked by a mortal...and now she didn't even get what she wanted. "NO!"  
  
"Is Raven gonna lose it, Mikey?" Smoke muttered, massaging her sore eyes with one hand.  
  
"Seems that way!" he said, ducking as Kiran tried to punch him in the jaw, landing a blow of his own to Kiran's knees.  
  
"NO!" Some unseen force began to billow what was left of Raven's clothes, and Raven herself for that matter.   
  
What are you going to do? You can't defy me.  
  
"I WANTED him!" Raven shouted in pure anger. She fired again and again at Duo, but nothing could hit him. "He was GOING to be MINE!"  
  
"You killed Heero," Duo said softly. "And you hurt my 'Fei. I can't forgive you."  
  
And the Gate creaked open further. There wasn't much time left; it was half open now, and with the pressure from behind, it would soon be the end.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Back on the surface, in the infirmary unit of Preventers HQ, Une stared out the window at the impending storm. Behind her, Sally and Trowa had managed to secure Quatre in what was lovingly dubbed the "Wufei Chang Cot of Fame". Une let her forehead rest against the cool pane of glass. After all the battles, after the war, after everything that had happened to her, she was still going to see the end of the world.  
  
How disgustingly ironic.   
  
Une didn't even bother to look up as Sally walked up behind her, "How is he?"  
  
"Which one?" Sally asked with a touch of wryness, "We've had a lot of hurt 'he's in the past couple of days."  
  
"True," Une sighed again.  
  
"Quatre's about a millimeter away from a coma," Une winced and closed her eyes as Sally went on, "God only knows what that's going to do to Trowa. Duo's still dead, and somehow, I have a feeling Heero is too. And Wufei..." Sally glanced away, "It's not fair."  
  
No, Une mused to herself. It sure wasn't. Out loud she said, "Round up some agents. Have them broadcast a message to the civilians to stay inside. But, given those storm clouds, I don't think they'll have much problem convincing them to do that."  
  
"Yes'm," Sally said tiredly, "But dare I ask why?"  
  
Une allowed her eyes to slide open and she stared into the burgundy storm clouds making their way over the horizon, "The public deserves the illusion that they have a ghost of a chance surviving the night."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Wufei couldn't think. Even if he had been aware of the fact, he  
  
wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. His mind was in so  
  
many pieces; it was as if someone took a sledgehammer to a puzzle.  
  
There were bits strewn all over the place, some in clumps and some  
  
alone. So perhaps Wufei cared, or perhaps he didn't, but it was  
  
impossible to know.  
  
Parts of conversations floated by. "A mugger, Sally. Of all the dumb  
  
ways...a fucking mugger." "And I just wish I could get one more  
  
day...hell, one more hour with him, so I could tell him. So he would  
  
know...and so I wouldn't feel like such a fucking coward." "You have  
  
no idea how much I want to stay, 'Fei. But, there are rules,  
  
and...gods, I'm sorry..."   
  
"Wufei!"  
  
A new voice, and startlingly clear at that. It sounded familiar, but  
  
he couldn't think of the name. Literally.  
  
"Wufei, listen to me. It's Quatre."  
  
((Quatre...yes, that's right. But how did he get in HERE?))  
  
"I...um...kinda had a Spaceheart thing. And I'm sort of dead."  
  
((Sort of? How does one become "sort of" dead?))  
  
"The whole demoness thing overloaded my circuits. I'm about ten  
  
minutes away from a coma."  
  
((No. My fault, again...))  
  
"No! Gads, Wufei, that's you're problem! You can't blame yourself.  
  
Not now. Don't you see what she did?"  
  
((Who?))  
  
"Raven, Wufei! She BROKE you! She broke your spirit so you could be  
  
her little consort! And worst of all...she broke you so Duo would  
  
hurt."  
  
((Duo doesn't deserve any more pain. Only I--))  
  
"Stop it! Do you hear me? STOP IT!"  
  
For a moment, Wufei was speechless. The disembodied Quatre voice took  
  
its chance.  
  
"No one deserves anything that happened because of this. You don't,  
  
Duo doesn't, Heero doesn't. You need to realize that, because despite  
  
everyone's best efforts, the world is going to end rather soon. You  
  
need to help them."  
  
((What good am I? You said I'm broken. How can you fix a broken  
  
person?))  
  
"Duo loves you. Duo's putting all his effort into protecting you,  
  
INSTEAD of closing the Gate. The least you could do is support him a  
  
little."  
  
((...yes.))  
  
"Good."  
  
((...Quatre?))  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
((Please don't die.))  
  
"I'll try hard not to, Wufei."  
  
At that moment, Wufei's eyes morphed from blood red to a beautiful  
  
chocolate brown.  
  
Duo's heart soared. Could it be? "'Fei?"  
  
"...Duo...love...help..." Wufei's voice was so quiet and croaky that  
  
Duo couldn't make out all the words. Despite his size, he looked for  
  
all the world like a child who was afraid of monsters under his bed.  
  
"What? 'Fei, I can't hear you, say it again!" Raven continued to  
  
blast, continued to get closer, but Duo didn't bother to give her the  
  
satisfaction of being panicked.  
  
"Duo, I love you. I want to help."  
  
Even though Duo knew, even after God Himself had come and told him, Duo's heart still skipped a beat. It was true, then! Wufei had loved him---did love him, rather!  
  
Duo smooshed Wufei even closer to him, not knowing whether he should cry or tremble or combust, or what, "You have no clue how much I've wanted to hear you say that," he whispered hoarsely into Wufei's hair, "Gods, you have no idea..."  
  
"Get AWAY from him!!" Raven screamed from behind, and this time, Duo was flung forward a bit from the brunt of her attack. Whatever she was throwing at him was getting more powerful as her anger increased and her wits left. "Don't make me kill you!"  
  
"You already did!" Duo retorted in exasperation.  
  
"I did!" Kiran corrected before he was tackled by Michael.  
  
I did!!  
  
Duo groaned, "Get in line!"  
  
"Do we have a plan?" Wufei tried hard to look brave, to look cocky  
  
and unafraid, but he wasn't fooling Duo.  
  
"Not really." Duo just continued to hold him, relishing the fact that  
  
Wufei had said - to his face - that he loved him. "We never got  
  
around to making one. Hee-heero had a plan, but Raven...she..."  
  
"She killed him trying to save you..."  
  
Wufei's eyes widened further (if that was even possible). Why would  
  
Heero ever do something like that for him? They had never been the  
  
closest of friends, certainly not the closest out of their little  
  
group of five...  
  
"He did it for you." Wufei understood. He knew all too well the  
  
misery he'd felt because he didn't save Duo. But where he had failed  
  
and allowed himself to become a tool, Heero had stood up and  
  
sacrificed himself bravely. It seemed that was all he could do -  
  
fail.  
  
"No! Don't say that, please, 'Fei..." Either Duo had truly heard, or  
  
he could juts tell from experience what Wufei was thinking. "It  
  
wasn't your fault; you couldn't know."  
  
"I hate to be a party pooper," Smoke shouted, still standing out of  
  
harm's way due to lack of sight "but you really need to do something  
  
about Raven and the Gate! Not necessarily in that order!"  
  
"What can I do to help you?" Wufei questioned softly.  
  
"I don't know," Duo said sheepishly. He carefully set Wufei down on a  
  
crystal, and then helped him to his feet. Wufei feebly wrapped an arm  
  
over one of Duo's be-feathered shoulders.  
  
I'm going to go with another cliché here: Do what feels right,  
  
Wufei. All you have to do is support Duo, and that will be enough.  
  
"I may be a little flimsy right now, but I can do that at the very  
  
least," Wufei smiled a little.  
  
"That's the 'Fei I know and love," Duo smiled as well, and then  
  
turned his attention to the Gate. First things first - save the  
  
planet, then smoosh the loopy demoness.  
  
Easier said than done. Just how does one go about closing the Gates of Hell with a mentally unbalanced demoness behind them, a berserk demon before them, and generally has no time to spare?  
  
What every good Gundam pilot does well: improvise.  
  
And cause general madness and mayhem, but that fell under improvisation.  
  
Duo inhaled deeply...and was promptly blasted backwards---AGAIN---by Raven. He yelped, shook his head vigorously, looked up...and swallowed. If he had thought Raven was scary before...well, dementia didn't suit her. At all. Besides being all bloody and gory, courtesy of Wufei, her hair was a disaster. Her talons appeared to have gained another two inches and her eyes had shifted to a wild red. She was breathing heavily and the air around her crackled from pent up energy.  
  
"You can't close the Gate," she taunted in an insane, sing-song voice, "Wufei's the power source," she giggled madly and readied another energy ball, "Would you kill him? I think not..."  
  
"I'm the power source...?" Wufei murmured absently.  
  
"He's mine!" Raven continued, "Mineminemine! And not you," she glowered at Duo, "You," Smoke, "Or you," the tangle of Kiran and Michael, "Are going to be able to take him away when I'm done!"  
  
"I've had just about enough of that," Duo snapped testily. "'Fei is not yours. 'Fei will never be yours."  
  
((And because of this whole mess, he'll never be mine, either,)) he thought sourly.  
  
"Push the gate closed."  
  
"Huh?" Duo was still not used to Wufei's soft, wobbly tone of voice.   
  
"That's how it stops, isn't it?" Wufei said. "We just have to push it closed."  
  
"You can't just push it closed!" Raven shrilled. "It doesn't WORK like that!"  
  
"Actually, it's not such a bad - oi, that's my RIB, you sunnufagun! - idea!" Michael thwapped Kiran across his head with his wings. "Worth a shot!"  
  
Duo stepped forward, and put a hand on the monstrous Gate. He hissed and pulled his hand away; it was a most unpleasant sensation. Hot and cold and electric and sharp all at the same time.  
  
He sucked in a breath. He could do this. For 'Fei, for Heero, he would do this.  
  
"Duo?" Wufei questioned.  
  
"C'mon, 'Fei. Let's fix this." Despite the knot in his stomach, Duo winked. It felt like the Duo Maxwell thing to do.  
  
"It doesn't work that way!!!" Raven shrieked again, "Boss, tell them it doesn't work that way!!!"  
  
No answer.  
  
"Boss??" Raven exchanged a wild look with Kiran at the silence. They were apparently on their own...  
  
"I'm the power source..." Raven's head snapped back to see Wufei still on his feet---a bit wobbly, but upright and GLARING, "What happens when the battery rebels? Poof!" Wufei waggled his eyebrows, "I control your gate, bitch."  
  
Raven screamed. It was a completely fruitless and useless endeavor, but it worked wonders for some of her pent-up frustration, "It doesn't WORK that way!!!" and with that, she released all her energy into one blast.  
  
Raven fell to her knees as she was suddenly lacking the energy to stand.  
  
Kiran and Michael froze in their battle.  
  
Smoke blinked furiously as her eyesight slowly came back to her.  
  
Wufei was blasted backwards into another crystal pillar and shattered it.  
  
Duo let out a small, pitiful squeak.  
  
Raven, having some semblance of sanity returned to her, saw her handiwork and gasped.  
  
Raven...  
  
She swallowed, "Yes Boss?"  
  
You are in so much trouble...  
  
Wufei groaned. He seemed to be alive still. By all accounts he should have been smooshed, but for some reason, he was...not. He was, however, very sore.  
  
It was the demon taint, he assumed. It was making him partially immortal.  
  
"Boss, I can explain, really, it was just--I just--you gotta understand--" Raven tried to grovel, but it went on deaf omnipotent ears. There was a sharp crack as a something flew out of the gate. It was an arm-like...thing...with hand outstretched, ready to snatch her into the abyss. She desperately scrambled backwards, but it latched onto her ankle. It felt like very, very cold ice had just slithered up her leg.  
  
With a quick jerking motion, Raven went flying through the air and through the open Gate. She screamed horribly for a moment, before the impending doom swallowed her up and imploded upon itself, squishing her into nothing.  
  
"...I'm guessing that hurt," Smoke said, blinking more. "A lot."  
  
"I hope it did," grumbled Wufei, struggling to get to his feet. "It is only just, after all."  
  
"Glad to see you're feeling well enough to be narky, 'Fei. I missed that." Duo had slunk in Wufei's general direction while Raven had been pleading, and leaned over to give him a hand up.  
  
"I missed you missing that," Wufei responded as he sluggishly pulled himself up. Duo grinned shyly and pulled him into a fierce hug.  
  
Kiran, having seen Raven's fate, felt the fight drain from him. The grip he had on Michael's hair loosened and he gave up trying to twist out from the death hold around his throat. What was the point? No matter who won...he, ol' faithful, hardworking Kiran, would probably die. The Boss had ~liked~ Raven, and look what happened to her! What would happen to him?? The Boss hated him!  
  
Truer words...  
  
Kiran winced and closed his eyes. If the tendril...thing about to snag him, he didn't want to see it coming.  
  
"I'm sorry about all this, 'Fei," Duo whispered into silken ebony strands, "I should have just told you and none of this would've happened..."  
  
"I know now," Wufei replied quietly, burying his face into the crook of Duo's shoulder, "That's all that matters...besides," he added wryly, "I like wings."  
  
Duo chuckled, "You have the oddest sense of humor..."  
  
Wufei tightened his hold, "No I don't. Remember Quatre's moose jokes?"  
  
"Excuse me!!" Michael barked from his position of holding-a-sub-dued-Kiran-in-a-headlock, "The Gates of HELL are about to open and engulf the Earth! You just MIGHT want to do something about that!"  
  
"Oh, THANK you Michael, I totally FORGOT about that!" Duo snapped. He couldn't get one second to enjoy his 'Fei...  
  
"No need to get snippy!" Michael wondered about Kiran's sudden surrender. Maybe Raven's squishing had made him lose hope? He certainly couldn't blame him...  
  
Duo put a hand to the Gate again. He hissed as the pain registered up and down every nerve, but gritted his teeth and PUSHED. It creaked and creaked, and moved about a millimeter.  
  
"Fuck," he said conversationally. He'd never do this in time; he'd done that with all his strength, and it hadn't budged.  
  
He felt warm hands wrap around his waist. "I'm here, Duo."  
  
Despite the fact that his hand was about to fall off, Duo smiled. That's right, 'Fei was there. 'Fei would help.  
  
Nodding resolutely, he put both hands on the Gate and PUSHED again. This time the Gate pushed back, sending crackling pain up Duo's body. He squaked in discomfort.  
  
"Duo!" Smoke and Michael shouted at the same time.  
  
"I'm...fine..." he grumbled, though he was clearly not. Wufei's grip tightened; he wouldn't let Quatre down. He believed. He believed in Duo. And because he believed in Duo, by due process, he also believed in God. Michael suddenly felt something warm rise in his chest.  
  
"Father...he just might do this," he said softly. "Not that I ever doubted him. Myself, I doubted. Never him. And never You..."  
  
I know.  
  
Duo shoved. And heaved. If he had been the big bad wolf, he would've huffed and puffed, if he thought it would help. The task would have been so much easier if the Gate would just stop shoving against him and willingly CLOSE!  
  
But he had 'Fei.   
  
The Gate creaked further shut.  
  
Kiran sighed dejectedly and hung his head as far as the arm wrapped around his throat would allow him to, "You've lost, Boss. Give up..."  
  
"Just shut it," Wufei was saying beneath his breath, "All you have to do is push it closed. I control this thing...just push it closed..."  
  
Duo pushed and felt the flesh on his hands burn and start to crackle. Is it possible to die twice? He wondered for an insane moment. Some religious people liked to go around saying they were born again, but why did Duo Maxwell have to die again?  
  
"Fucking irony," he muttered and gritted his teeth. He was on fire. The negative energy from the Gate was going to engulf him and squash him, just like Raven. Except this death was going to make his first death feel like a cakewalk by comparison.  
  
First death. Duo sighed. Only he could have multiple deaths.  
  
But for this death, he had his 'Fei with him, and that would make everything all right. Some how.  
  
The Gate closed with a simple "click!" 


	6. Chapter Six and Finale! Woo!

"I don't care what consequence it brings.  
  
I have been a fool for lesser things.  
  
I want you so bad, I think you ought to know that  
  
I intend to hold you for the longest time."  
  
~Billy Joel, "For the Longest Time"  
  
When Duo opened his eyes, he was surrounded by the most wonderful glow he'd ever felt. It was Warm and full of Light, much different from his first experience of Heaven. Not that the first one was bad, but there weren't words for this.  
  
"You're in the very presence of God," Michael said, from somewhere Duo couldn't see. "It's the best feeling anywhere."  
  
"Did it work?" Duo swallowed. If all of this pain had been for nothing...  
  
Yes. Once again, We triumphed.  
  
He'd done it. Duo had really saved everyone. He winced; almost everyone. But the planet...the planet would live. Raven had imploded, and who knew (or cared) what had happened to Kiran.  
  
I'm very proud of you, Duo Maxwell.  
  
"Thank you," Duo whispered.  
  
"So are we." Smoke couldn't be seen either, but it could be assumed that she was wherever Michael was.  
  
"Not many people could be that brave, Duo." Michael's voice was thick and sniffly. "You're something else."  
  
"I just wish...Heero, and Wufei..." Duo felt something heavy sink into his chest. Heero was dead. Wufei was alone now - really alone, because he was Saved, and now Duo couldn't ever see him again.  
  
It was against the Rules.  
  
"I'm sorry, Duo," Smoke said. "I wish it didn't have to be this way. You don't deserve this..."  
  
"It's alright. It's only eternity, right?" Duo tried to chuckle. Only eternity.  
  
We'll always have Hell, Duo mused. Sheesh, but what kind of relationship was that?  
  
The best he could hope for was Wufei to be happy. There were billions of people on Earth, after all! Maybe someone else could make Wufei smile that delectably cute smile of his, or maybe some else could hold him, and someone else could breathe in that wonderfully exotic fragrance that was Wufei and maybe someone else would have Wufei say, "I love you"...  
  
But it wouldn't be Duo Maxwell. Nope, not Duo Maxwell. Duo Maxwell was currently Personal Be-braided Angel Servant of the Divine, and being madly in love with a mortal was not written into the contract.  
  
"Is Hee-chan alright?" Duo asked in a choked voice.  
  
"Oh, he's cranky," Michael answered, "But he'll be okay."  
  
"He can feed Mewser for me," Duo said nearly inaudibly, "Maybe him and 'Fei...? Or what about Sally...Sally does love him."  
  
Duo Maxwell, I'm surprised at you!  
  
"...eh?"  
  
Didn't I tell you before? Nothing is over until ~I~ say it's over.  
  
"...eh?" Duo said again. Okay. Wufei was saved, the Gates of Hell were closed...what else was there? Was he supposed to fill out a mission report or something? Une always made him fill out mission reports. If Duo had been in Sally's infirmary and bleeding to death, Une would still march in and demand a mission report. And if he didn't comply, it was hellooooooo glasses.  
  
All and all, as far as employers went, Duo preferred God's temperament.  
  
I don't want a mission report, Duo. I was THERE.  
  
"So...what's left, then?" Duo asked.  
  
Starting over.  
  
Somewhere nearby, Michael and Smoke went, "Ohhhhhhhhhh..." at the same time. Obviously, they understood.  
  
"Um, anyone feel like letting me in on whatever you're talking about?" Duo said, scratching his head. Starting over? He had to do EVERYTHING over: Maxwell Church, the war, the anxiety over 'Fei not knowing--?  
  
Not that far back. Just...enough.  
  
Duo sighed. "I still don't get it."  
  
Some of us never do.  
  
"Father, being cryptic is only going to confuse him more..."  
  
"What she said," Duo added.  
  
Nothing wrong with a little confusion. No one needs to understand everything all the time. ...besides Me, that is.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
The first thing Quatre saw was a lot of brown hair right up in his face. He sneezed.  
  
"Koi, I think I'm allergic to you," he muttered, blinking blearily. They'd done it; Wufei and Duo and Heero, they'd really saved everyone.  
  
"Merf nerf?" Trowa mumbled drowsily. Obviously, he'd curled up next to Quatre on the Wufei Chang Cot of Fame...how he'd manage to weasel by Sally would probably be an eternal mystery.  
  
But still...Duo and Wufei had prevailed.  
  
And they were getting a second chance.  
  
Quatre smiled slightly. Maybe some things were just meant to be...even if someone had to occasionally go back and hit the "restart" button. There was a moral to this story: Don't Piss With Fate.  
  
Besides, Duo and Wufei were just so undeniably adorable together!  
  
As for Heero...who knew what Fate had in store for him? And who knew what Fate was going to do to /make sure/ Heero got what he deserved.  
  
"It's about to start over, koi," he whispered into Trowa's hair and cuddled up against the other boy, "Maybe this time around you'll remember to roll up the Jeep's windows?"  
  
"Mfrngleschrp..." Trowa agreed, curling up closer as he realized semi-coherently that Quatre was awake.   
  
Quatre resisted the urge to giggle. "Whatever you say, koi."  
  
Something warm and light seemed to brush past his cheek, like the touch of a finger. He yawned, clutching a bit of Trowa's shirt and getting comfy. The same warm feeling began to fill the room, drifting through the unopened door.  
  
(("It's not easy trying to understand  
  
How the world can be so cold,  
  
Stealing the souls of man.  
  
Cloudy skies rain down on all your dreams.  
  
You wrestle with the fear and doubt;  
  
Sometimes it's hard but you gotta believe..."))  
  
The voice was sweet and thick, like honey, and the song lilted through the room softly. It made Quatre even drowsier, and as exhaustion and relief consumed him, he heard someone say:  
  
It is Time. Time to begin anew; time to repair what was broken...  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The only conclusion Wufei could come to was that he was not dead. Because he wasn't in Heaven, nor was he in Hell anymore, so that either left Earth or Purgatory.  
  
Somehow, the latter just didn't seem to fit.  
  
"What happens now?" he questioned softly, trying to figure out where he was and why he was there.  
  
You're...well...Somewhere.  
  
Wufei snorted and shook his head. "Yes, that certainly narrows it down."  
  
Hey, you could be a little more thankful to the omnipotent being who saved you from being a crispy critter.  
  
Beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...  
  
Great, he mused to himself, We've gone and been thrust into the world's largest microwave...I just know it.  
  
Oh, ye of little faith...  
  
Beep...beep...beep...  
  
That was going to get real old, real fast. His reward for surviving Raven and Hell had been to participate in a bizarre version of Chinese water torture. Oh, the injustice.  
  
Raven. He felt his lips curl in disgust. The prime example of obsession. To think, of all the things she had done, just so she could hang her trophy on a wall. She had deserved her fate. And what of Kiran? What /had/ happened to him? Had he been...eaten...as Raven had, or was he still loitering down Below, being kicked around by the Boss.  
  
Wufei decided he was probably better off never knowing.  
  
Beep...beep...beep...beep...  
  
Wufei resisted the urge to scream and tear his hair out. What was that BEEPING???  
  
May I make the novel suggestion of oh...opening your eyes?  
  
"I thought you didn't know where I was," Wufei grumbled. What was that he was smelling? Antiseptic?   
  
Oooohhhh, I figured it out...  
  
Wufei sighed. Fine. If the beeping would stop, he'd open his eyes. Slowly they creaked open, to reveal...  
  
White. And lots of it. It took a moment of desperate focusing for Wufei to realize that it was a very white hospital room, and the beeping was a heart monitor.  
  
"...wha?" Wufei mumbled half-intelligently. Why here? What did it mean?  
  
Read the chart on the bed, bucko.  
  
Wufei snatched the clipboard dangling off the bed. Gender - M, Age - 18, Status - Critical (Stable)...  
  
Name - Duo Maxwell.  
  
Everything seemed to fall into place.  
  
Wufei's eyes snapped up to the figure in the bed. Chestnut hair laving disheveled over a pale form, breathing slowly and steadily. The beeping continued.  
  
"Does this mean...?"  
  
Yes.  
  
Wufei plunked down into the chair closest to Duo's bed. So he was back to square one. Almost back to square one.  
  
"So, none of that ever happened?" he asked.  
  
You could say I wiped the slate clean. I couldn't undo everything...but I can give you a second chance. And Wufei?  
  
"Yes?"  
  
You are among the few people who will remember. Never ignore what happened, because it could happen again.  
  
"Yessir." Wufei clutched Duo's hand in his own. He was in shock. Their love actually had a chance.  
  
Good boy. Now don't screw this up, or you can come back here and do the paperwork.  
  
Wufei gave the ceiling a funny look, but there were no more...cryptic remarks. He shrugged and returned his gaze to Duo's waxen face. Despite his lack of color, despite his hair spread around him in a tangled mat, and despite the fact he was unconscious, he was still so beautiful.  
  
And alive.  
  
"You've looked better," he muttered wryly and reached forward with his free hand to brush some of the hair from Duo's face.  
  
"'Fei...I've been shot and stuck in Hell..." Duo's voice sounded about as weak as he looked. His eyes were closed, but he was definitely grinning, "I haven't exactly...had an...abundance of primping...time..." Violet eyes cracked open and tried to focus on their surroundings, "Where'd they...plop us...?"  
  
Before Wufei could answer, Sally burst into the room with an overly enthusiastic grin, a clipboard, and a brand spanking new lab coat, "Goooood morning, Duo!" she chirped merrily, "Nice to see you again! Une's pretty pissed about this, so how do you feel?"  
  
Duo sighed, "My dear Lady Bitch is...pissed...so...we're back in...Hell, 'Fei?"  
  
Sally raised an eyebrow. "That's what we're calling my facilities these days, is it? I wouldn't insult the lady who's going to fix you."  
  
Wufei interjected before Duo could. "He's fine. Would you...please give us a moment?"  
  
"You were in here all night," Sally regarded him dubiously, "but I suppose. It's only fair, after all..."  
  
She slipped back out the door. "I'm giving you FIVE minutes. And then I'm coming back in."  
  
"Yes'm," Duo wheezed. The door clicked shut, and it was just him and Wufei.  
  
"We couldn't...be back in Hell. He wouldn't...do that...to us, would He?" Duo mused, sounding half-awake.  
  
"I don't know quite how to explain it," Wufei said softly, leaning in closer to Duo. "I think...everything that happened after you got shot was erased. It never happened. You didn't die."  
  
Duo's eyes opened fully with that realization. "So Raven...and the...memorial service, and almost losing...you, and Hell...it just went away?"  
  
"Looks that way."  
  
Duo's eyes closed again and he leaned back into his conglomeration of pillows with a sigh, "Well...that's anti-climatic..."  
  
Wufei chuckled lightly and carefully ran his fingers through Duo's bangs. Duo sighed again, this time in contentment. Wufei leaned down until he was half in the little plastic hospital chair, and half lying on the bed, and just continued his petting.  
  
"'Fei?" Duo asked sleepily.  
  
"Mmmm?"  
  
"If all that...stuff didn't happen...that means you never read the note..." Duo cracked open an eye, but Wufei could still see the trademarkable Maxwell Gleam of Mischief, "So you don't...know how I feel..."  
  
Wufei grinned, "Guess not. You better tell me then."  
  
With some effort, Duo managed to get his arm across his chest and brushed his fingers lightly across Wufei's cheek, "I love you, 'Fei."  
  
Wufei blushed slightly, but didn't break his gaze, "I love you, too."  
  
Suddenly, someone sniffled. Wufei's head shot up, nerves on edge and prepared for anything --  
  
-- except Smoke, dabbing her eyes with a tissue, and Michael by her side.  
  
"What a...surprise!" Duo said, smirking. "I would think you have more important things to do than visiting me."  
  
"Nothing that can't wait," Michael smirked. "You know, just some paperwork."  
  
Smoke blew her nose. "A happy ending, Mikey! We had a happy ending!"  
  
"What else did you expect?"  
  
"How are you two doing?" she asked, sniffling some more.  
  
Smoke could have sworn Duo was smirking. "Well, aside from the fact that my torso is a mess, I'm fine."  
  
"I'm going to miss those wings," Wufei said, perfectly deadpan. Duo stared at him for a moment, and then erupted into giggles.  
  
"I take it the sense of humor will take some getting used to," Michael looked up, a wee bit exasperated. "Father, we're TRYING to keep this moving along, but this is kind of important."  
  
Between giggles, Duo got out, "I think Michael's the only guy who can back-talk God..."  
  
Smoke shook her head, "If He didn't have paperwork up to His Gizzard, Mikey here would be a fried fritter, that's for sure."  
  
"Alright, alright already!" Michael snapped at the ceiling. He sighed in exasperation and looked back down, "He's getting cranky, so we really must be going. We just wanted to say things like bye and stuff."  
  
"I'll miss you!" Smoke exclaimed and wailed dramatically into her tissue.  
  
Everyone, mortal and angel alike, rolled their eyes.  
  
Duo cracked a grin, "It's not goodbye, Smoke!" he said with a false gusto, "We'll send...Christmas cards with pictures!"  
  
Wufei fixed Duo with a look, "And how do you intend to pull that off...?"  
  
Duo's grin grew broader, "Hallmark," he answered simply.  
  
Michael shook his head in disbelief, "Glad to see you're feeling better."  
  
Smoke gave her eyes a final dab before tossing away her tissue, "I want GOOD pictures," she proclaimed, "Not cheap snapshots...I expect some professionally done photographs here!"  
  
Duo winked, "Of course."  
  
"I don't like having my picture taken," Wufei said, again in his most deadpan voice.  
  
Smoke fixed him with a glare and boinked her soggy tissue off his forehead, "Better watch yourself," she warned mockingly, "We'll send you back to Hell."  
  
There was a soft knock at the door, followed by Quatre's muffled voice, "Hello?"  
  
With a smattering of paper clips and feathers, Michael and Smoke were gone.  
  
"Q-bean, c'mon in!" Duo chirped as cheerfully as a shot person could.  
  
"And bring Sally in with you!" Wufei added, receiving a sound thwap from one of Duo's many pillows. "What?!"  
  
Duo shook his head vigorously. "No way, 'Fei. We can't let her back in here! She might wanna...take me for uncomfortable X-rays!  
  
"Already did that."  
  
Duo raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly do you know that?"  
  
Wufei paused, looking puzzled. "Er...I don't know?"  
  
They both exchanged Looks, and then a glance upwards.  
  
"It figures," they mumbled in unison as Sally the Overbearing came bustling in with six nurses, a cart of medication and Quatre (with Trowa naturally following like a cross between a puppy and a shadow.)  
  
"How are you doing, Duo?" Quatre managed to get in as the nurses surrounded the patient, fixing IVs and adding yet more random tubes and needles.  
  
"Well, as good as can - HEY! I'll have you know that shots aren't supposed to go there! - be expec-- would you STOP that, onna, I'm trying to talk to Quatre!" Duo said, bewildered by the sudden frenzy of medical personnel.  
  
"He just called Sally 'onna'," Trowa said softly. "Do we take that as a sign...?"  
  
No on answered, for all motion in the room stopped. Sally's left eyebrow twitched slightly. Several nurses "meeped!" and fled the room as she ground her pencil tip into her clipboard.   
  
"No one," she growled in a dangerously low voice, "But NO ONE, calls me 'onna'! My name is SALLY. SALLY PO. DOCTOR SALLY P-"  
  
"Shut up, onna," Wufei said simply.  
  
Sally shot him a wonderful rendition of the Heero Yuy Glare of Death, but shot it at him silently.  
  
With the room devoid of most of the nurses, Quatre tried again, "So, how are you doing, Duo?"  
  
"I feel like I've been to Hell and back," Duo said quite honestly, before yanking his arm away from the sole nurse left, "Quit /poking/ me already!"  
  
The nurse huffed indignantly and stomped out of the room.  
  
Sally siiiiiigggghhhhheeeedddd, "Maxwell..." she grumbled before grinning slightly, "What would we do without you?"  
  
Quatre gave a wistful half smile, "Pray you never have to find out," he murmured, but was drowned out by a sudden clap of thunder.  
  
Trowa swore rather loudly, much to everyone's shock, "I left the Jeep's windows down..." he muttered before he darted out of the room.  
  
"Trowa, no!" Sally called after him, and gave chase, "The elevators are to the RIGHT! That's kitchen access...."  
  
Quatre was left alone with Duo and Wufei.  
  
Wufei gave Quatre a good, long, introspective stare, "You remember," it wasn't a question.  
  
Quatre nodded slightly.  
  
"Whoawhoa...how does he know, exactly?" Duo asked, removing all the tubes and wires in varying uncomfortable places. "In that same vein, pardon my pun, har har...what does he know, exactly?"  
  
"Raven got exactly what she deserved," Quatre said.  
  
"Ooh..." Duo sighed. "So, I'm guessing the words 'space' and 'heart' are involved somewhere here."  
  
"That's about it, yes," Quatre sighed, leaning against the door. "I have quite the case of indigestion right now, let me tell you."  
  
"Sorry," Wufei and Duo chorused at the same time. They looked at each other, and blushed.  
  
"It just means I love you," he said, smiling. "Besides, it's not bad heartburn. Trowa's sandwiches...really, I love him, but those things kill me. Don't tell him I said that."  
  
Duo raised an eyebrow. "Ooh, blackmail possibilities."  
  
Quatre groaned. "Remind me why I saved you again."  
  
Duo flashed a sickeningly sweet and completely false grin, "Because you just love me so!" he chirped merrily. And then, quite abruptly, his face changed expressions, "Q-bean," he said much more quietly, "Do you know what's happened to Hee-chan?"  
  
Wufei cursed silently. He had completely forgotten about Heero! Heero, who had been brutally killed for the one he loved...even though it was unrequited!   
  
"Crapppp," he muttered. There was /always/ a lose end.  
  
Much to both of their surprise, Quatre grinned broadly, "Heero's fine, Duo. Last I checked, he was baby-sitting Mewser."  
  
Duo raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean, 'baby-sitting'? Hee-chan isn't--?"  
  
"He's set up temporary camp in your apartment," Quatre chuckled softly and shook his head, "He loves that cat...and you," he added as an afterthought.  
  
Duo sighed and leaned back into his pillows.  
  
"He doesn't remember a thing," Quatre continued in the same quiet tone, "Trowa and I checked on him before coming over. But that doesn't mean he isn't affected. He's..." Quatre was silent for a moment as he dug for the right word, "Contented," he settled on, "He's peaceful. He got the closure and acceptance he needed...even if he doesn't remember it."  
  
"Naw," Duo murmured from his pillow mound, "Mewser just flashed those eyes...no one can withstand a LOOK from Mewser...not even Heero Yuy."  
  
"I must meet this 'Mewser'," Wufei said. "Sounds like the two of you would get along swimmingly."  
  
"He eats my leftover lunchmeat...I can't complain." Duo scratched his head. "Umm, okay, so far...three of us remember what happened. Anybody else?"  
  
"Trowa doesn't remember...and every Preventer I've run into hasn't said anything about 'have Wufei's fainting spells gone away?'..." Quatre shrugged. "I haven't seen Une yet."  
  
As though she was psychic, three sharp raps were heard, followed by, "I'm coming in, Maxwell."  
  
Wufei shook his head. "This should be interesting."  
  
Duo swallowed. "'Maxwell.' She called me 'Maxwell.' I'm SO screwed..."  
  
"She'd have to wait until you're feeling better," Quatre said, and Wufei covered his sputters with a cough just as Une bustled in the room with twelve manila folders under her arms, but fortunately with glasses off.  
  
"Maxwell, WHY are these not finished?" she demanded. She pulled a folder from the pile and shook it vigorously, "What am I paying you??"  
  
"Not much," Duo muttered.  
  
Une glowered and reached for the pocket that contained her glasses, "Don't you start," she threatened and plopped the pile of manila on Duo's lunch tray, "I've had enough paperwork to fill out...the S.E. forms..."  
  
"S.E.?" Quatre inquired.  
  
"Shot employees," Une replied curtly. She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "I didn't know they existed either, but POOF! there they were on my desk."  
  
"Une..." Wufei said, letting just the proper amount of irk-dom into his voice, "What are those envelopes?"  
  
But Duo was way ahead of him. He opened the first envelope and piles upon piles of cards, candies, and general get-well wishes spilled over his lap. His eyes widened and he whistled, "I'm going to be WIRED once I get out from Frau Po's clutches..."  
  
"There's nine more just like it," Une paused in her nasal massaging. "I could barely get to my desk this morning, the hall was clogged with so many flowers..."  
  
Duo felt something warm and squishy settle in his chest. All those nameless Preventer lackeys...they cared?  
  
Wufei squeezed Duo's hand. "Of course they care," he whispered. "Who wouldn't?"  
  
Une caught sight of the hand-holding. Wufei realized that Une didn't remember the whole ordeal, and was about to pull away when she said   
  
"Well, I guess I should have seen that coming."  
  
Wufei looked at her, dumbfounded. Duo blinked a couple of times. Quatre, however, bent over in peels of laughter.  
  
"I certainly don't see why it's so funny, Winner," Une muttered, but she was smiling. "I may be Schizo Bitch from Hell, but I can pick up on flirtation waves just as well as any other female."  
  
"We never called you Schizo Bitch from Hell," Duo blinked innocently. "Who would do such a thing?"  
  
Une shook her head. "You're injured, so I'll refrain from hitting you. Chang, I do expect to see you bright and early in the morning..."  
  
Wufei nodded. "Yes, ma'am." Even the almost-end of the world wasn't an excuse to skip out of his paperwork.  
  
"Well, the ball and chain is awaiting my presence...I've practically been married to that damn office," Une muttered. She turned to make her way to the door, "Besides, there's only one bitch from Hell...and she got what she deserved."  
  
Duo choked on the peppermint he had popped into his mouth. The blood drained from Wufei's face. Quatre's mouth moved, albeit without any audible sounds.  
  
Une blinked at them, "Did I say something?" she asked confused.   
  
Quatre was the only member of the trio that was able to shake his head no.  
  
Une shrugged and left.  
  
It was several moments before the silence was broken.  
  
"I thought she didn't remember!" Wufei spluttered and yanked open one of Duo's envelopes, "Oh! Espresso beans!"  
  
"...not consciously..." Quatre whispered with a hint of awe, "Not even God can take on Une..." he chuckled and shook his head, "Did you say espresso beans?"  
  
Wufei nodded vigorously and passed the envelope to Quatre. Quatre grinned, "Thanks! Trowa won't let me eat these at home..."  
  
"Those are MY beans, thank you!" Duo huffed indignantly, "A coffee-crazed Quatre. Man, between that and T-ball's sandwiches...I'm glad it's just me, Mewser, and my 'Fei."  
  
"Mewser? Who's that?" Trowa peeked an eye - the non-concealed one - through the door. Quatre beckoned him in, and he entered all the way.  
  
"Duo's feline companion," Wufei answered. "I can't wait to meet him."  
  
Duo chuckled. "You'll get along great. He's particularly fond of sleeping in the cabinet where I keep my tea..."  
  
"A creature after my own heart," Wufei smirked.  
  
"I hate to be going, but I too hear the call of paperwork." Quatre rolled his eyes. "Bureaucracy stops for no man, though sometimes I wish I could just throw a wrench in the works for shits an giggles..."  
  
There was a collective snort, and Wufei inhaled an espresso bean.  
  
"Catch you two lovebirds later!" he called merrily, dragging Trowa out of the room before he could even get a word out.  
  
"When I'm well..." Duo patted Wufei heartily on the back until he regained his breath.  
  
Wufei nodded. "At least Quatre got something out of this whole ordeal - a strange sense of humor."  
  
There was silence for awhile, while the two young men pondered...well...things that deserved pondering. Finally, Duo spoke up.  
  
"'Fei?"  
  
Wufei sat down in a chair. "Yes?"  
  
"What happens now?" Duo looked into his lap. "We got a second chance, 'Fei, but...what are we going to do with it?"  
  
"Not screw it up, for one," Wufei leaned over, and planted a soft kiss on Duo's cheek. "I learned my lesson the first time around."  
  
"Do you squeeze the toothpaste from the top of the tube, or the bottom?"  
  
Wufei blinked, "What?"  
  
"The toothpaste, 'Fei. This is URGENT. I have to know," Duo locked his eyes with Wufei, "The top of the tube, or the bottom?"  
  
"The...top..." Wufei said a bit uncertainly.  
  
Duo sighed dramatically and flung an arm over his eyes, "I save you from Hell only to learn we have incompatible dental care habits! Oh the injustice!" he peeked out from his arm to give Wufei a wink, "If you kiss me Chang...and do I mean KISS me...I just MIGHT forgive this fatal flaw of yours."  
  
Wufei put his hand to his chin to give himself a scholarly look as he thought his predicament over, "And what makes you think that you'll have control of the Crest, hmmm?"  
  
"If you think that after all I went through, I'm going to let you remain in that BROOM CLOSET you call an apartment-" Duo started to grumble, but trailed off as Wufei gently moved his tube-laden arm from his face and leaned forward far enough to bump his nose, "Then you've got another thing coming..." he said quietly.  
  
"Do you want me to kiss you, or are you just going to keep shooting your mouth?" Wufei asked just as quietly.  
  
"You're giving me a choice?"  
  
"No," Wufei said, "But it'd be horrible if our first incredibly sentimental kiss wound up with me kissing your teeth."  
  
Duo's eyes widened in mock horror, "I never thought about that! Quickly, you fool! Kiss me! Kiss me for all you're worth!"  
  
Wufei happily obliged.  
  
The kiss lasted a very, very long time. Finally they parted, although  
  
they both thought they could last a lot longer.  
  
"That was very nice," Wufei said, nearly out of breath.  
  
Duo grinned. "Want seconds?"  
  
"Of course," Wufei grinned.  
  
Sally peered in, ready to stomp in and demand why Duo had  
  
thoughtfully "reorganized" her patients' charts, but stopped when she  
  
saw Wufei and Duo having a very good time...doing something she  
  
thought she'd best ignore.  
  
She shook her head, "Should have seen it coming."  
  
Sally kept going, leaving the two lovebirds in their bliss.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
"I don't know how I survived   
  
in this cold and empty world for all this time...  
  
I only know that I'm alive  
  
because you love me..."   
  
Smoke was reclined on a cloud, eyes closed, singing softly to  
  
herself.  
  
"When I recall what I've been through  
  
there's some things that I wish I didn't do;  
  
but now I do the things I do  
  
because you love me..."  
  
"We did good, Smoke," Michael said. He was lounging on his stomach  
  
atop the same cloud, feet kicking in the air.  
  
Tsch, for an angel who's so picky about grammar...  
  
"I'm allowed a day off," he replied loftily. "We deserve it."  
  
"Saving the world does feel pretty good," Smoke agreed, stretching her  
  
arms above her head. "I feel like...like there isn't anything I can't  
  
do now."  
  
"Yeah, once you defeat Hell, everything else seems pretty boring,"  
  
Michael said drolly. Smoke smacked him on the nose.  
  
"This job is never boring."  
  
If you're bored Michael, ~I~ can always find something for you to do.  
  
Michael stretched and flopped on the cloud. His wings twitched and he grinned, "Like what?"  
  
Well, the downstairs bathroom needs cleaning...  
  
Michael crinkled his nose and traded a confused look with Smoke, "We don't HAVE a downstairs bathroom..." he said a bit uncertainly, "We don't have a bathroom period!"   
  
I can fix that.  
  
"You could always clean out their bathroom," Smoke said inclining her head down below. She didn't have to explain who the bathroom belonged to, "Can you really see Duo with a scrub brush and rubber gloves?" she giggled behind a hand, "Michael the great arch angel reduced to scrubbing toilets. Ahhhh."  
  
"Well, if Raven wasn't in many itty bitty particles, SHE could do it," Michael said reasonably.  
  
Smoke's expression darkened, "She deserved what she got...say...do you remember what happened to Kiran?"  
  
"Do I care?"  
  
Smoke nodded and flopped on her back, "I see your point. Well."  
  
"Well."  
  
Well.  
  
Michael plucked two sodas from the air and handed one to Smoke, "Here's to love."  
  
"Soda, Michael?" Smoke winked, "But yes...to love."  
  
They clinked their cans and drank.  
  
"So, what happens now?" Michael asked, thoughtfully examining the label of his Pepsi.  
  
That's for Me to know, and you to find out.  
  
"Cryptic as always. I like that." 


End file.
